Forever On A Dance Floor
by be minee x
Summary: Discontinued.
1. Moving

_Disclaimer_: As much as I'd love to own these characters, they are the works of Stephenie Meyer, except Alexander, he's mine.

**Chapter One: Moving**

"Bella, you do not have to do this."

I sighed, as Renee, my mother, tried to dissuade me out of going to Forks.

"Mom, I want to go. Dad will need me, as well as my partner, Alexander." I tried to convince my mom. I had taken up dancing when I was seven, and, unlike most children, decided to stay involved in it. I had gotten extremely talented at ballroom dancing, as well as many other types of dancing, despite my inability to walk without falling over.

"But, sweetie, are you sure this is what you want? I know Alexander has already moved up there, but that doesn't mean you have to go with him. I can find you a new dance partner," my mother protested.

"Please mom, I really want to do this. Besides, a lot of peeople have already asked us to dance for them as entertainment," I reminded her.

"I suppose you are right," aggreed my mother, "but, you must call me when you get there, and email me all the time, telling me how your dancing is going."

"I will mom," I replied, staring out the window at the passing scenery upon us. It was not long before I could see the airport of Phoenix, Arizona.

I sighed again, knowing that these would be my last memories of the land of the desert for awhile.

As soon as we parked in the airport parking lot, I pulled out my one carry-on item, an iPod, while Renee pulled out my luggage. I didn't pack much due to the fact that most of my wardrobe was meant for the warmer weather. So, in my bag I had a few sweaters, a few pairs of jeans, some of my dance music, and a few pairs of sneakers. I've never had much, but I didn't complain, for I had enough to satisfy me.

We walked into the airport doors and went to find my terminal. As soon as we walked up to it, they checked my bags and my person. My mom gave me a hug goodbye and once more reminded me to call her when I got there.

As I boarded the plane, I began thinking of how Alexander and I will survive up in an environment we were not accustomed to. He had been saying that he wouldn't mind the cold, wet, northern air, but I had a feeling he was just masking his true feelings.

Just thinking about him made me go into a round full of memories with him. I had never liked him as any more than a friend, and it was the same thing with him too. He had never really noticed girls before. Well, not enough to want to date them. That is one of the many things we had in common, we never liked to date. Of course, Alexander was very attractive for a 17 year old boy. But, being the gentleman that he is, refused any girl that had asked him out with the uttermost politeness. He found great relief that he wasn't the only one who didn't find pleasure in dating the whole population of our school. In which, I was relieved as well.

I finished my internal pondering as I slipped in the earphones of my iPod. I put on one of my favorite bands and imagined dancing with Alexander on a ballroom floor. We were spinning and twirling elegantly as the people surrounding us were gazing at us in awe. We were used to this, considering we were young and very talented. He always wanted to go professional with me as his partner, but I had to tell him that I had to think about it. What I didn't want to tell him was that I wanted to go to college, maybe get a benevolent paying job, maybe fall in love with someone and have a few children. But, as of now, my future plans consisted of dancing with Alexander.

I closed my eyes at the thought of love and marriage. I have always been less exuberant about dating, but from time to time, I would find myself rather lonely without a partner, other than Alexander, but his partnership was for a whole different purpose. Mostly, I would think about dancing and how much gratification I found in dancing many famous dances, and others not so great.

The stewardess sauntered by and checked to make sure I was doing okay. I muttered a "yes, thank you" and she was off. I took out my iPod headphones just in time to hear the flight attendent announce we would be landing soon, and to buckle our seatbelts. I did mine hesitantly, considering my mind was elsewhere. I leaned back and waited out the remainder of my flight.

I staggered off the plane with my iPod, looked up to see Charlie standing right in the front, beaming at me with his mustached covered smile. He was the police chief in the small town of Forks. He had dark brown hair, which took on a bushy array, a thick mustache, also brown, brown eyes, like mine, only lighter, and had a average height and body structure. He waved to me timidly, and I walked up to him and gave him an awkward one-armed hug.

"Hey, Bells! It's so nice to see you again." He said in a tone out of character for him.

"Thanks, Ch- I mean dad." He never knew I called him Charlie behind his back. So I just tried to cover it up with a smile.

We walked to his police cruiser and I got settled in the passenger side. As soon as he started to drive, I pulled my iPod back out just as my dad started conversing with me.

"So, Alexander is going to be waiting for you at the house to start make arrangements for dancing and school."

School. Just the thought of it made my stomach churn. I had decided to move here in the middle of my junior year. It was January, and bitter cold. I knew no one, mind Alexander, and no one knew me, other than the people that knew of my homecoming, if you could call Forks home.

"Alright, then." I ended the conversation just as quickly as it started.

As we pulled up to my dad's, now my, house, I looked around at the scenery surrounding the area. My dad lived in a two story house, made of bricks that were starting to fall out of place. It was nestled up right against the woods, with no close neighbors. The driveway was small and could only fit Charlie's cruiser and maybe another car. I pulled myself out of the vehicle, luggage in tow, and walked right up to the front porch.

"Bella!" yelled a familiar voice. I turned slightly at the source of the sound to see Alexander standing at the window, waving at me frantically as he tried to get my attention, which now he fully had. He rushed outside just to run up to me and pulled me into a tight hug, making me drop my possessions, including my iPod.

"I am so glad you are here!" he excitedly stated.

"Me, too!" I responded with a laugh at his natural optimistic behavior. He released me and started picking up my things.

I took this moment to take in his appearance. Like I said, he was attractive. He had an ivory complexion, with a mole right above the left side of his lip. He had high cheekbones and a defined jawline. He was very tall, about 6'3". The mop that covered his head was jet black and sat there, swept across his forehead. Shaggy, as many described it. He was slightly lanky and had little muscle, but that did none to take away from his good looks. But, the most prominant feature on his face, was his dark, forest green eyes. I had never seen any eyes like his. They were captivating in their color, which is one of the many reasons he was able to attract women. His attire usually consisted of black or beige slacks and a normal colored t-shirt.

"Come on, Bella! I have so much to tell you about school and arrangements I made for our enjoyment of entertaining the village people," he chuckled at his inside joke. He had never been used to entertaining anyone smaller than a ballroom full of people.

"Ha ha, some gentleman you are, making fun of the great town of Forks's citizens." I put my hand to my chest and opened my mouth in feigned shock.

"Just around the village people, am I a gentleman! Around you, however, I can show my true colors," he stated proudly.

"I wouldn't be so proud if I were you. Your true colors aren't always a good thing," I stated jokingly.

"Ouch. I never knew you didn't enjoy my jokes." He faked being hurt, but I could see a hint of his wide grin start to form.

"Just keep your opinions to yourself, oh mighty king of the jokes," I giggled at his reaction to my words.

We walked inside the house to find that he had stuff scattered everywhere. Most likely from the oh so important arrangements he had been making, as well as the ones we've been asked to do. He invited me over to sit next to him on my dad's only couch.

"I called the school, and we will be starting on Monday. We also can start dance practicing in the music room at the school every day during 7th period. Since we both have study hall that period, it works out perfectly." I was never used to him being so responsible for schooling and what not. He usually was just all about the dancing.

"Although there is a class that period, there is an extra room next to it we can practice in," he stated.

I listened throughout his explanation, but found my thoughts wondering back to Monday, my first day of school. I had never really been nervous about anything, other than dance competitions. I started to wonder whether the kids would like me or not. I was a bit different, and so was Alexander. How many teenagers do you know that take up their time dancing at ballrooms to entertain? Certainly not many. Part of me longed to have a normal teenage life. No worries, no problems, just fun. Although I did find dancing enjoyable, I wish my life consisted of _normal _teenage activities, well, part of me did.

It was Saturday, and Monday was my first day of school. Tomorrow, me and Alexander were to practice a new dance he liked to call "the Swing Fling." I had no idea why he liked to name things the way he did, but I let him have his fun without my protesting.

After Alexander went back to his apartment his mother rented for him, I cooked Charlie his dinner, chicken chop suey and eggrolls, and then trudged upstairs to sleep. I took my shower, brushed my teeth, combed my hair, and slipped into my normal sleepwear, sweatpants and a shoddy t-shirt. I then crawled into bed, shut off the light, and fell asleep dreaming of dancing the waltz with Alexander. But, later on in my dream, he dissapeared and I was dancing with no one, as it seemed.

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_AN: Well? What do you think? My first attempt at writing a story. If it's that bad, please don't be mean. :D Review!_


	2. One Glance

_Disclaimer_: As much as I'd love to own these characters, they are the works of Stephenie Meyer, except Alexander, he's mine.

**Chapter Two: One Glance**

I awoke early Monday morning from my slumber to the sound of my alarm clock. I looked over at the buzzing clock to see it read 6:00. I didn't have a car, so I was either walking to school, which was a two mile walk, or ride the bus, which I did not want to do.

I arose from my bed to go to the bathroom and brush my teeth. I walked back in my bedroom and stood in my full length mirror, taking in my appearance.

I was pretty plain looking, if you asked me. With my long, straight brown hair, my large brown eyes, my slender looking figure. I stood 5'4", with pale as a sheet skin. Like I said, plain.

Boys never really noticed me before. Unlike Alexander, I didn't get many date invites. So I never really had to worry about the pressures of dating, much to my relief.

I went to my closet and looked around at all my clothing, which was not much. I would have to go shopping. There sat my box of dance dresses and shoes. Alexander had brought them before I initially moved here. On my hangers were my other clothing, such as, my cream tunic, my midnight blue long-sleeved blouse, and various other long-sleeved shirts and sweaters. In my drawers were my very few pairs of jeans. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt.I pulled out my cream, lace flats, and then sat on my bed.

I looked around my room. It had not changed in the 17 years it existed. My walls were still the midnight blue my mom insisted made my room look more like the sky, not that you could see it much. My curtains were a cream color, much like the moon. In the corner was a rocking chair. My small mahagony dresser was next to it. At the far end of my room was my closet. My bed sat opposite of my dresser. There was a small table next to my bed. Underneath my table sat my laptop, which I did not use much, except for finding new music to dance to. Next to my table stood my small window, which probably wouldn't open due to underuse. Next to my closet was my bookshelf, which held many books as well as some of my music. It all got up here thanks to Alexander.

I stumbled downstairs to see Charlie smiling widely at me.

"What is it dad?" I asked warily.

"Come outside with me." Was all he said.

I grabbed my bag and a granola bar and was outside. Just as I was about to put the bar in my mouth, I stopped dead in my tracks to see a very old, but very nice looking Volkswagon Beetle.

"Your homecoming preasent. The Blacks down at La Push rebuilt it and decided to give it to you," he stated.

I was in a mixture of shock and awe. It was an old car, but much to my surprise, I adored it.

"Holy crow! Thanks dad! This is perfect. What year is it?" I asked.

"It's a '58 Volkswagon Beetle. This black is the original color too," he told me.

"And it works?" I questioned.

"Of course. Why would I give you a broken car?" He told me as if it were obvious.

"And I can drive it to school?" I asked with a smile.

"Yes, of course." My dad smiled at me with a look of relief on his face. Possibly from the fact that he didn't have to drive me in his cruiser.

"Oh, okay. Well, I am going to go pick up Alexander and then go to school." I told my dad.

"Okay, Bella. Have a good first day of school," he said as he pulled out in his police cruiser.

I turned on the ignition and found that I jumped because it was so loud. I would have to get used to this.

I pulled out of the driveway and took off towards Alexander's apartment, which was not too far away. I took in the scenery around me. Everything was green. And when I say everything, I mean _everything._ The green covered the ground, the trees, the rocks. The sight was blinding, kind of.

Once I sighted his apartment I started to slow down. As soon as I came to a stop, he came outside and walked to my car. He was wearing his usual black slacks, black shoes, and his orange t-shirt. He slid in my car and we were off to school.

"What, is it Halloween already?" I asked jokingly.

"I like to celebrate early." He laughed at my question.

"Did you know about this car?" I asked.

"Sure did!" He said excitedly.

"How come you never told me?" I challenged.

"Your dad wanted it to be a surprise." He said nonchalantly.

I nodded and for the rest of the ride we chattered on about dancing and school and who we might meet or become friends with, and what-not. He also started talking about that if there was a talent show, we should sign up and show the village people what we were made of.

We arrived at the school sooner than I expected. It was all one story, with several buildings. The parking lot was average-sized, so it was easy to find a parking spot. All the cars there were either beat up or older. The nicest car there was a Volvo S60 R.

"You ready?" Alexander asked happily.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I muttered sullenly.

We took our schedules to the main office. The lady at the front desk, Ms. Cope, looked up from her glasses. She had red hair and a light purple shirt on. We walked up to the desk and Alexander asked for our names.

"Alexander Gold and Bella Swan?" He inquired politely.

"Oh, yes, of course. The new students, correct?" Alexander nodded. "Alright then, just let me add you to our roster," she stated while eyeing Alexander.

She handed us our passes and another copy of our schedules. And with that, we walked out and sat on a bench and waited for the warning bell to ring.

"Let me see your schedule," I said to him.

He handed it to me and it seemed that we only had a few classes together. 5th period Lunch, 7th period Study Hall, which would be spent in the music room, and 8th period Gym.

I glanced down at my schedule and took notice that I had English first period, and Alexander had Trigonometry.

The warning bell rang and Alexander and I stood and hugged eachother and wished eachother luck with eachother's classes.

I walked off towards the English building getting stares as I was walking. They were all very irritating.

"...Police Chief's daughter."

"..I heard that she is from Phoenix..."

"....she arrived with some hot guy.."

"..pretty girl.."

I grimaced at the last whisper. I was not pretty, not to myself, at least.

I walked into the English room, and much to my relief, no one really was in there. I took the pass to the teacher, who was a old, bald guy. He directed me to my seat near the back of the room. I took it without complaint, not wanting very much attention.

Every once and while, I would receive glances from the students sitting ahead of me. Many of the faces looked curious and questioning. The occasional one or two would give me a nasty glare. Likely out of jealousy or just pure rage. Not knowing what I did, I looked away from such unkind looks.

As soon as the bell rang, a boy about as tall as Alexander walked up to me and introduced himself.

"Hello, you must be Isabella Swan. I'm Eric. Eric Yorkie." He stuttered as he said this.

"Hello to you to Eric, and it's Bella." I smiled encouragingly.

He walked me to my next class, Government, since he had it too. I could tell by his personality that he was not a ladies man. He also seemed like that chess club type of guy, but he was nice and had a lot of guts to come up and talk to me, rather than ogle me like the majority of the school.

During Government, a girl came up to me as Eric was telling me about school and other random things.

"Hello! My name is Jessica! You must be Isabella Swan. It's so nice to meet you, the town has been waiting for you to arrive." She rambled on. She seemed like one of those people that auction off things, since she talked so fast.

Jessica had Spanish with me the next period and Trig with me 4th. She walked me to both classes and chattered on about people around the school, her friends, et cetera.

"So what about you?" She asked.

"Huh?" I mumbled pathetically.

"What do you like to do?" She asked with a laugh.

"Oh, I dance, with my partner Alexander." I told her.

"You.. DANCE?" She asked incredulously.

"Yeah, is there something wrong?" I challenged.

"No nothing, it's just that I know no one who dances with a partner. It's just different." She had a tone when she said this.

I didn't respond. Not only because what she said was kind of rude, but also because Alexander was walking towards me.

"Hey Bella!" He yelled to me. He ran over and stood beside me and looked at Jessica.

"Hey Jess, this is Alexander, my dance partner." I introduced her to him.

Jessica looked like she was going to faint. Her eyes were glazed over as she stared at my dance partner. This was not the first time he got this reaction out of girls. So, Alexander held out his hand to shake hers.

"Hello, Jessica, it's nice to meet you." Always the gentleman.

"Er.. hi." She said in a dazed voice as she shook his hand.

We all walked to lunch and sat down at a table that had a lot of people sitting there already. I recognized Eric sitting there, as well as some people I recognized from a few of my classes.

Alexander had a way of talking to people, because he was already laughing and joking with most of the people who were at the table and some who were passing by. I was just looking around while he conversed with everyone, when my eyes stopped on five students sitting at the far end of the cafeteria.

They were all sitting there, not eating, not talking. They were all chalky white and had golden-yellow eyes. But, the most dominant trait in all of them was the fact that they were all disgustingly, inhumanly beautiful.

"Who are they?" I asked Jessica and a girl next to her who I think was named Angela.

"The Cullens." Angela stated while Jessica sighed.

"They are um, Dr. Cullen's adopted children. They just moved down here about 2 years ago," said Jessica.

I examined each one of the Cullens. There were three boys and two girls. The girls looked like supermodels, while the boys looked like Gods. The blonde haired girl was so beautiful, that it would a sin just to stare at her. The other girl, who was a pixie like girl with short, black, spiky hair. She was very small. The boys looked old enough to be in college. The biggest one had thick muscles and brown shaggy hair. The blonde one was as tall as the brown haired one, but was more lanky in his figure. The last one was the smallest of the boys, who had copper or bronze colored hair, in a messy style. He was the youngest one of the group, and maybe the most beautiful.

"The blonde haired girl is Rosalie Hale, and her twin brother with the blonde hair is Jasper Hale. They are foster children, and they're seniors." Jessica said.

The short black haired girl is Alice Cullen, and the big dark haired guy is Emmett Cullen," continued Jessica.

"The last one is Edward Cullen. He is the only single one. The others are already paired off with eachother. But, I wouldn't waste your time, he doesn't go out on dates," Jessica sniffed.

I stared at Edward. He was looking around, but then he glanced at me, and my dance partner, who was also listening in on the conversation. Edward looked between troubled and frustrated, like something was taunting him, in some way.

I looked down from the beautiful boy who was staring at me, or Alexander, and started up another conversation with Alexander for the remainder of the lunch period.

"Bella, don't forget, we have a gig this weekend as well as a recital practice after school everyday this week." He reminded me.

"Okay, see you 7th period, partner." I smiled and walked off to my 6th period Biology class.

Angela was nice enough to walk me to my class. She was a really easy person to talk to. She was quiet and shy, like me.

When I walked in, the first thing I noticed was that Edward Cullen was sitting in the back all alone. He had the only table with an empty seat next to it. When I took the pass to the teacher, he gave me the seat next to Edward. I was a little more excited than I should be, which was really stupid.

As I was walking down the aisle to my seat, I noticed Edward Cullen was sitting very stiffly, and facing away from me. I also took in that he wasn't breathing. I took one look in his eyes and noticed they were black. So black, that when you looked in them, they just screamed death.

I sat down awkwardly, while remained still as a statue, unmoving. He had a death grip on the table, as if he was restraining himself from something. I never knew anyone could be so still. But, he seemed to be something else. Something terrible.

A chill ran through me as I thought this. I hid my face in a curtain of my hair as the red colored my cheeks. That was one thing I was extremely embarassed of- my blush.

I decided to take one more peek at him before I stopped looking at him. So I peeked out of the corner of my eye, and he was glaring right down at me. If looks could kill, I would be killed ten times over.

He sat throughout the class in his stiff position, hands clenching and unclenching, leaving indents in the table with his hands. I looked at the indents and tried to figure out how a human could be so strong as to leave marks in a wooden table.

I tried to ignore him by taking notes, and then glancing at my music, organizing it so it went in the order I wanted it to go. But, Edward was hard to ignore when his piercing black gaze was burning a hole in the left side of my head.

After one hour of the nervewracking class, the bell rang. Edward jumped up right before the bell rang and ran out the classroom very quickly for a human. Was it something I did? I don't even know the guy and already he is looking at me as if I was Satan.

I stood stiffly, and just as I was about to walk out, a boy a little bit taller than me came to my side and started talking to me. He had blonde hair that were arranged into orderly spikes. He had sky blue eyes and a round baby face, like he hadn't lost all of his baby fat yet.

"Hey, you must be Isabella Swan. I am Mike Newton." He stated confidently.

"It's Bella, and it is nice to meet you Mike." I smiled. He was the nicest person I met today.

He went on about random things before he asked me what my schedule was for the remainder of the day.

"Um, I have Study Hall next period, and Gym last period." I told him.

"Oh, me too! Well, Gym at least." He replied. "Can I walk you to your next class?"

"Sure." I mumbled.

"So, what happened with Edward Cullen? He looked like he wanted to kill something." Mike said.

"The one next to me in Biology?" I asked as if I didn't know who he was talking about.

"Yeah, I have never seen him like that before. Usually he looks all bored and sad." Mike replied.

Hmm, interesting. So, Edward never usually acted like this. And I had a scary feeling it was because of me. I couldn't imagine that I could resurrect that reaction out of anyone.

Mike dropped me off at Study Hall, and Alexander was already there. He was talking to the Study Hall aide about us going down to the music room so we can practice our dancing. She reluctantly agreed. Alexander and I walked down to my locker to get my bag of dancing attire. We then walked to the room next to the music room. He brought a small boom box and put an older CD in it. It was Elvis Presley.

I changed into my leotard and my long flowing skirt. I pulled on some silver heels as well. I looked up at Alexander and he was changed into a black wife beater and he kept his black slacks on. He smiled at me and pulled me into his arms and we started to waltz to "Heartbreak Hotel."

We continued our dance session for awhile. We danced throughout Elvis's CD. Alexander put another one in. I knew the songs, although I did not know the band. I think it was a mixed CD of his.

When our time came up, we changed back into our school clothes, and walked out to see the whole music class staring at us. They must've seen us throught the clear glass doors. Anyone would be impressed with our moves. I noticed one of the Cullens, Alice, looking at us, well, more me, with a smug and impressed smile. Now, why couldn't her brother be like that? She smiled even more when I caught her eye, and I smiled back. She then looked away with the smugness still present.

Soon the bell rang, and I advanced to my next class with Alexander. Gym class, to be exact. Although I am a great dancer, I am basically terrible at everything else. It's like all of my balance reserves were put into dancing, and everything else is left in the mud.

Today, we didn't have to dress up, considering it is our first day. I was so relieved for this fact, however, Alexander was not. Apparantly he didn't throw all his balance reserves into dancing. They were more spread out than anything else.

As soon as the class was over, we filed back to my beetle. Just as I was about to leave, I saw Edward Cullen staring at me. Staring at me with the most hateful eyes anyone could think possible. He was leaning against the building next to the main office. His brother, Emmett, was holding on to his arm, somehow restraining him from something. I couldn't help but think that the "something" was me. Restraining him from trying to hurt me. I shivered at the thought.

Alexander called a few places on his cell phone. He told me that he had to cancel our practice today. So what he did was plan a double practice on Friday. So then, I dropped Alexander off at his apartment. I decided to go into town to check out the shops. Maybe I could find some new tights. I needed some more anyway.

I drove into town and parked on the street next to a shop called "Auntie Antiques." I got out of my beetle and started to walk past the shops. I got lucky and found a shop that looked promising for tights. I walked in when they sales clerk shouted in an enthusiastic voice, as if she hadn't had a customer in ages. I walked down one aisle to find a bunch of cheap tights. Well, beggers can't be choosers. So I picked up five pairs of beige and white tights, purchased them, and got out of the store.

I continued my venturing through town, and found a book shop. It was called "Nooks Books." How typical. I sauntered around and found a book that looked ineresting, but I haven't read it yet. I purchased the book, and left the shop.

As I was walking back to my car, I had an eerie feeling that I was being followed, indirectly. I looked around, but saw nothing. I jumped in my car, and drove home. I could swear I heard a deadly chuckle in the shadows.

Awhile after the event, I got home and started to make Charlie dinner. He decided that now was the perfect time to start a conversation with me.

"So, how was your first day of school, Bella?"

"Fine, I suppose." I muttered.

"Did you meet anyone new, interesting?" he probed.

_Yes,_ I thought.

"Well, I wouldn't call them interesting.." I trailed off laughing.

My father laughed along with me at my dry joke, probably trying to keep the conversation going. I really didn't want to keep going. I wanted to go read my book and think for a little while.

After dinner, I did the dishes and went upstairs to take a shower, brush my teeth, and put my pajamas on. As soon as I was finished, I went downstairs to show Charlie I was going to sleep.

"Goodnight, Dad."

"Goodnight, Bells." He muttered, entirely too focused on whatever game was on the television.

I walked back upstairs and into my room. I pulled out my book, Harry Potter, and started to read. But, by the time I was finished with the first page, my mind drifted back to Edward.

Why did he hate me so much already? What did I do? If he had such a strong reaction to me, and no one else, then there was something.. _wrong _with him. Was there something wrong with him? Did he have a genetic disorder. No, he couldn't have one, he was too beautiful. But, the way he reacted to me taunted me in frightening ways. I tried to figure out which was stronger, his beauty or his fearful nature. As of right now, his beauty was winning.

The thing I found funny was the fact that he pulled such a strong feeling out of me. Of course, his looks had pulled me in. But, his _mystery_ is what really captured me. I wanted to know more about him, to learn about him. I mentally chuckled. None of that could be accomplished if he had a strong aversion towards me. I sighed.

I set my book down, barely read, and set my alarm clock. I slipped under my comforter and drifted off to sleep. I dreamt of walking in a dark alley, no lights, no pedestrians, nothing. I was running after something, it looked like a light. But, as I kept running towards it, the light got farther away. It was then, finally, that I got sucked into a dark abyss, with nothing to pull me out.

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_AN: The deadly chuckle was Edward. The control for Edward is slightly harder for him in this one. Review! :D_


	3. Converse

_Disclaimer_: As much as I'd love to own these characters, they are the works of Stephenie Meyer, except Alexander, he's mine.

**Chapter Three: Converse**

The week breezed by rather quickly. What with my meeting new people, catching up with everyone else accademically, and dancing practice with Alexander. We were practicing our dancing for the Boston Ball this weekend in Seattle. Anyone rich or famous in the area was to go, and we needed to be at our best.

After the first day, Edward Cullen never came back to school. Some said he moved to a different school, some said that he went to live with grandparents, and some of the even more absurd theories made were about him dying. Where did he go? I don't know, but all week I have been thinking it was me. All me.

I sighed, because I didn't want to be the cause of someone's discomfort, no matter how much they loathed me.

My phone rang then. I answered with a "hello?"

"Bella?" A weary voice muttered.

"Who is this?" I answered.

"Alexander." The voice mumbled with a cough and a sneeze.

"Oh my God! You sound terrible! What happened to you?" I asked with concern.

"I'm sick, but don't worry, it's just the common cold," Alexander reassured me.

"But you can't dance tomorrow if you are sick!" I reminded him.

"That's why I am staying home. I am still dancing tomorrow, regardless of my illness, but today would not be a good day to go to school and get everyone else, including you, sick," He told me.

"...Okay. Well, I have to get ready and go to school. Feel better, okay? I will come check on you after school," I told him.

"Okay, thank you Bella. Have fun at school." His mumble was sincere.

"Thank you, bye." I ended the conversation and hung up.

Great. Now I had to go to school without Alexander by my side. I now had to be with a bunch of people I barely knew. Plus, he wouldn't be there to distract me from the rampage of thoughts about Edward Cullen.

I got up from my bed, and went to my closet to pull out a pair of jeans, my cream, lace flats again, and my cream tunic that felt like cashmere. I pulled them on and then went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, go to the bathroom, brush my straight hair and wash my face. I never wore any makeup, it never suited me. Of course, I put it on to see what I looked like, but I looked exactly like another one of those plastic valley girls. That is the last thing that I would want to look like.

I trudged down the stairs at a slow pace. I grabbed my dance bag and my bag carrying my books, a granola bar, and my iPod and cell phone, and then walked out to my beetle. I started the ignition and jumped out of fright. Charlie already left for work. I pulled out of the driveway, and drove to school, thoughts of Edward Cullen and where he has been, why I was consumed of thoughts of him.

I pulled into the parking lot and parked my car close to the school. Lucky me. I got out of my car and walked to my first period class. Eric was there to greet me, like on the first day. We talked about random things, like on the first day. That was basically how my morning went. Talk to whoever had the guts to talk to me about random things. I was almost falling asleep in my chair in boredom.

Jess met me after fourth period to walk with me to lunch. She chattered on about the usual random things, once again. She also started to ramble on about Alexander and how good looking he was. Give me a break, I hear it all the time.

We walked to the cafeteria, minus Alexander, and sat down at our usual lunch table. I excused myself to get a bottle of lemonade. When I walked up there, I could feel eyes on me. It was unnerving, because I hated attention greatly. As I was in line, I took a quick peek at the Cullen table, to see if Edward's family was throwing glares at me like they have been doing all week, mind Alice. I was just making excuses for myself to look over there. The reason I was looking over there was because I wanted to see if Edward was back. Much to my fortune, or disfortune, depending on how you look at it, there were five people at the table. I froze. So maybe he never left because of me. Maybe I didn't have anything to do with his disappearance. That thought made me hopeful. More hopeful than I could ever think.

It was all childish really. Like a little girl developing her first crush. The thought of Edward being my first crush was laughable. I couldn't get involved with him even if he wanted to. I had to think about my future being a dancer. Part of me still wanted to live a normal life, but I did find great pleasure in dancing. Plus, Alexander was a very good partner and leader. I could not let him down.

These thoughts made me a bit morose. I walked back to the table and laid my head down on the table. I was about to drift off to sleep when Jessica interrupted me when I was trying to sleep. But, since I was so exhausted I almost missed what she said.

"..staring at you."

"Er..hmm?" I mumbled while lifting my head up.

"I said, Edward Cullen is staring at you," she told me, clearly annoyed. But, I had no time to worry over her annoyance now. I was too busy staring at the God across from the lunch room.

He was staring at me with his now golden colored eyes. How strange, hadn't his eyes been that hateful black the last time I saw him? But, his gaze didn't look hateful now. He looked rather curious. As if he was trying to see right through me. I was pretty easy to understand. My mother always called me an open book. I will admit, I was.

I looked away before I did something idiotic, like drool. Oh, that would be interesting.

"So, Bella, what are you doing this weekend?" Angela asked me, much to my relief. She was such a nice girl, always pleasant to be around. I was thankful for the distraction. I would have to thank her for her kindness later.

"Well, tomorrow Alexander and I are going to the Boston Ball to dance for people. Sunday, I am not doing anything." I told her with a smile hinting at the corners of my mouth.

"By the way, where is Alexander?" Angela asked me. Definitely would have to thank her.

"Oh, he is sick." I tried to pull of a nonchalant tone, but my worry leaked through a little bit.

"I hope he feels better." Angela told me sincerely.

"Yes, me too." I smiled at her. I would have to hang out with Angela. She seemed like a person I could really get along with. Perhaps I could invite her to one of the balls I wouldn't be dancing at and introduce her to people I knew.

I would have to do it later, because the bell rang, which meant that I would have to go to sixth period, and face Edward Cullen. I got very nervous walking there. What if the curiousity in his eyes wasn't there when I went to sit next to him? It would be mortifying.

But I decided to quit being a coward and sauntered off to Biology.

I walked in the room and went past the teacher's desk and sat down in my seat, totally ignoring Edward. I wanted to see what he would do first.

"Hello." A velvet pulled me out of my absent-mindedness.

I looked over at him like he was crazy. He was all kind now. God knows I didn't miss his loathing glare straight through my soul on Monday. Now, I just stared at his captivating beauty. I didn't say anything, a result of my shock. A part of me was ecstatic, for he was talking to me.

"My name is Edward Cullen. I apologize for not introducing myself on Monday. You must be Bella Swan." His tone was cool and collected, like he were simply talking about the weather.

"How do you know my name?" I probed him quietly.

"I think everyone knows who you are." He smiled at me.

"Why did you call me Bella?" I questioned.

"Would you prefer being called Isabella?" He asked me with confusion.

"No, I like Bella. It's just that everyone has been calling me Isabella." I muttered lamely. Why was I explaining this to some strange, but beautiful boy sitting next to me?

"Oh," he mumbled.

The teacher started to start his lecture, for which I was relieved. I didn't know what else to say to him. If I even tried to look at him while I talked, I would just stop and ogle him like he was a celebrity, which he very much could be.

The teacher started to hand out a worksheet for all the students to work on for the entire class period. When I got mine, I glanced down at it. It had to do with DNA and RNA nucleotides.

_Great,_ I thought.

I started to examine the questions on the page. They were fairly simple. I got through most of the questions. I was on the final question when the musical voice interrupted me from the answer I was just about to write down.

"Do you enjoy dancing?" he asked me. How did he know I danced. I barely know the guy, and he knew I danced. I didn't tell anyone that except for a few people who asked me about myself.

"H-how did you know I danced?" I asked warily.

"Oh, your dance partner said something about it. He seemed quite eager to flaunt you as his dance partner." He said this in such an angry tone. I thought he was mad at me at first, but the look on his face gave away that he was angry at the situation. How peculiar.

"Okay. Well then, yes, I do enjoy dancing." And I did.

"So do I." He smiled.

I looked over at him incredulously. I had never met another person who enjoyed dancing as much as me and Alexander. The thought made me happy for some reason. Just because he enjoyed dancing, doesn't mean it is something to be ecstatic about.

"So, what is your next class?" He probed.

"Um, well, I have study hall, but I go to the music room to dance with Alexander. But, since he isn't here, I will just be going down there to go over some music." I told him.

"I have that class too, with my sister. Alice." His smile grew wider, like he seemed joyed by the idea.

"Oh, well, I guess I will see you there." I responded to him kindly.

Class ended as soon as it started, so it seemed. I stood up and started to load my bag, Edward staring at me all the while. It seemed like not too long ago that I was staring at him like some idiotic fool. Edward stood too, and walked over to me.

"May I walk you to your next class?" He asked me kindly. Mike heard this, and scowled at Edward as if he were offending him.

"Er, sure." I muttered. I exited the classroom with Edward by my side. He stayed a good distance from me. Close enough so that people knew we were walking together. We walked to the music room in complete silence, which I liked better anyway.

We entered the room, while he sat down in his seat. I went to the wall next to the door and sat down and started to look at music. I pulled out my iPod and turned on one of my favorite bands. I was really getting into the song as I was organizing fifties music in certain orders, when a tall, pale figure walked over to me.

"Fifties music, huh?"

I looked up to see Edward Cullen standing there with a smirk on his face. He sat down beside me and started to talk about how he enjoyed fifties music. How strange! When do you meet a boy who liked fifties music, other than Alexander.

"You like fifties music?" I inquired.

"Yes, music in the fifties was good." He smiled at me.

"Oh, well, this is all Alexander's music. He likes when I organize it, it makes less work for him." I told him.

He uttered something that sounded like "that's rude" and was silent for awhile. That was a good thing, it gave me time to my thoughts. He continued to watch me as I organized the music in orders I liked it to be. I wondered why he said that Alexander wanting me to organize his music was rude. He shouldn't care.

I looked over at him to see his eyes black again. He was giving me the same expression he did on the first day. I ignored it and turned away.

The bell rang and Edward flew from the classroom, like he did on the first day.

Geez, what was wrong with him!? First he goes from acting like I am Satan, to acting like he is my acquaintance, back to acting like I am Satan. I would never get that boy if he was going to be acting out two personalities in one person. But I still found him extraordinarily fascinating.

I finished out the rest of the day without any injuries, thank God. I walked back to my car and got in. Just as I turned on the ignition, I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Edward Cullen staring at me. I glanced over at him once and looked away, revved my engine and drove off. As I passed him, I could swear I saw him laughing.

I returned home, gave Alexander a call to make sure he was okay, and walked downstairs to make Charlie dinner. I made him a pasta dish he seemed to like and we ate in confortable silence. That is one thing I liked about Charlie, he didn't feel the need to fill each silence with unnecessary chatter.

"Hey, Bells, I might be at worker longer than I thought tomorrow. I know you got that thing tomorrow and I thought I would let you know now. Some police up county have reported some police officer getting killed by some kind of animal."

"An animal?" I asked.

"Yes. So, I was going to go down there tomorrow and give them a hand." He told me.

"Okay, dad, be careful." I reminded him.

"Thanks, Bells." He smiled at me as he finished his food. I went up early, needing my sleep for tomorrow.

I went to sleep that night with another strange dream. This one I was getting killed by a chandelier coming out of nowhere. The only figure there was a silhouette, but it was too dark to see. It was ironic because there was a chandelier in the room. Shouldn't I be able to see it? But, I had a feeling it was a symbol more than anything else.

* * *

_AN: I have been making this much like the plotline of Twilight. I am trying not to. And, Edward is only nice to her because he wants to be near her so he can taunt himself with her blood. He's a little darker in this story. Masochistic, our Edward is. Review!! :D_


	4. Miracle

_Disclaimer_: As much as I'd love to own these characters, they are the works of Stephenie Meyer, except Alexander, he's mine.

**Chapter Four: Miracle**

The weeks events hit me the next morning. On Monday, I meet new people, and get glared at by the mysterious, but beautiful boy that is Edward Cullen. Edward Cullen leaves and comes back on Friday. On Friday, he talks to me as if nothing had happened on Monday. Then in the music room, he runs away from me, all that talking with him and he runs away. He's so strange.

I sat up on my bed and pondered for awhile, trying to wake up. I suppose I should call Alexander to make sure he is okay.

I picked up the phone and dialed his number. He answered on the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Alexander." It felt really good to hear his voice.

"Oh! Hey Bella." You could hear the smile in his voice. It seems I wasn't the only one who was ecstatic to hear the other's voice.

"How are you doing? Still sick?" I asked, concerned.

"I am getting better, which means that I can go to the Boston Ball without any problems." He told me cheerily.

"Yay!" It was very unlike me to say something like "yay."

"Whoo-hoo. Someone's getting a bit excited," he teased.

"Well, it's our first gig since moving here. I figured I should be excited." I told him.

"Who wouldn't be excited?" He asked, as if it were obvious.

"Exactly." I smiled.

We continued to talk about other things, like school, or people. He mentioned some of the people I knew. Other than that, he talked about people I didn't know. Alexander was one of the only people who I could listen to go on and one for hours and not get annoyed, or bored. Maybe it was because he was my best friend, or I just got used to him over the years we have been dance partners. The cause aside, I listened to him with much enthusiasm. At least had something to talk about, because all I did was listen.

"So, Bella, I have to go and get ready for the Boston Ball. We have to be there at 4:00, and we go on at 6:00. Did you know we have to dance for two hours? I am excited for it. Can you come get me at 3:00?" He rambled on.

"Sure." I simply told him.

"Alright. Thanks, Bella. Goodbye." He ended the conversation.

"Bye." I muttered.

It was currently 8:34 AM. Which meant that I had about 7 hours to kill.

I started sorted the little laundry that I had, and then went into Charlie's room to sort his laundry and put it in the washer. The dirty clothing started to disappear as I continued washing clothes. I took whatever was in the dryer to fold up and put away. I went back into my room to pick out my dress Alexander told me to wear. It was a mint green dress with a cross over the front. It had an opening in the back so you can see part of my back. It wrapped up to my neck and connected with the front of the dress there. I pulled out some silver shoes to go along with the dress. I set it on my bed and went back downstairs to start cleaning the house for Charlie. I was scrubbing the kitchen when I felt the eerie chill go through me again, much like when I went uptown, when I thought I was being followed.

I looked at the windows, and saw nothing. I went outside to see if there was anything out there. As I walked outside, I saw the bush near the woods sway back and forth. It shouldn't have done that, there was no wind. I started to walk to the woods where I saw the bush sway. I walked past the bush and a little bit into the forest. There was nothing but trees and rocks and dirt. Nothing out of the ordinary. How could I have imagined this? Someone was spying on me, and I had no idea who. I knew who I would _like_ it to be, but if it wasn't the person I hoped it was, then it was probably just some sick peeping tom. That thought made me shiver is fear and disgust.

I didn't give it much thought, or at least I wouldn't until I started to feel fear for this anonymous stalker.

I walked back inside my house to finish cleaning. I turned on some modern music, and started to dance around the house. The eerie feeling still hadn't left me body. I tried to ignore it. I looked at the clock as a distraction. It read 1:00.

I went upstairs to start taking a shower. I was lathering the shampoo through my hair when the eerie feeling left my body. I smiled and washed out the shampoo and put conditioner in. My thoughts drifted back to Edward Cullen, once again, as I washed the conditioner out. I sighed and walked out of the shower.

I decided to do something cute with my hair. I blow-dried it and curled it in loose curls. I pulled the curls to the side of my head to tie them with a silver ribbon. Since I had slightly layered hair, I could pull some pieces of hair down in my face. I walked back to my room to put on my mint green dress and silver shoes. I went to my mirror to put on some silver eyeshadow and mascara to make my eyes pop. I looked once over my appearance and decided that I looked good enough.

I picked up my dance bag, just in case, and walked out the door. It was 2:47. So I had time to get over to Alexander's apartment. I put my dance bag in the truck of the beetle, got in the car, and drove off to Alexander's.

I wondered what song we were going to do at the Boston Ball. It was probably going to be swing music. I really enjoyed dancing to swing music.

I pulled up to Alexander's apartment building. He came out as soon as I pulled up. I looked over his appearance, I had to admit, he looked dashing in his tux. He jumped in and smiled at me.

"Ready?" He asked with excitement.

"Yes!" I said just as enthusiastically.

He laughed at my new enthusiasm. He never usually sees me happy, so it must be a treat for him.

"Hey, my dad is staying late at work tonight, so do you want to come over after the ball?" I asked him hopefully.

"Yeah that's a good idea. Why is your dad working late? He usually likes to be home early so he can have more time with you," he told me, confusion apparent in his voice.

"He said a police officer up county got killed by some sort of animal. He said he was going to go and help them try to find the animal." I told him.

"Oh, okay. I wonder what the animal is," he said quietly.

_So did I,_ I thought.

We arrived in Seattle about forty-five minutes later. We pulled up to the Century Ballroom and we got out of the car. We walked up towards the doors where the owner of the ballroom approached us.

"G'day to yeh, Alexander Gold an' miss Bella Swan!" He greeted us in a thick Irish accent.

"I'm glad yeh decided teh dance for us here." He smiled widely at us with straight white teeth. He was an older man, maybe in his early 40's. He had a head full of light brown hair and had a tall figure. He was wearing a tux.

"Yeh can call me Mr. McCree. I'm the owner o' this fine ballroom, here." He told us.

We smiled at him and walked inside to see that people were already starting to arrive. We walked to a room in the back so we could freshen up. Everyone stared at us in awe as we passed them, like everyone else did when we went somewhere dressed like we were.

We entered the back room. It was 4:12. We were to go on in less than two hours. I pulled out a few things from my dance bag for entertainment. Alexander was listening to his music on his iPod, so I was left to my own devices.

I spent most of my time reading Harry Potter. I was on the fifth chapter when Mr. McCree came in to tell us we would be going on in ten minutes. Alexander stood, as well as I, and we started to warm up. By the time we were warmed up, we had to go on. We walked through the doors and everyone cheered as we went on. Alexander and I smiled at everyone who cheered for us. We finally got to the middle of the dance floor.

A swing song came on, and we started to dance.

I was just following Alexander's lead for the majority of the time. I could swear, a few times while I was spinning, I could see the whole Cullen family watching us from a distance. We continued to twirl and dance when I started hearing these cracking noises.

It was all very fast then, the large, glass chandelier detaching from the ceiling, right over us, it skyrocketing towards us as blinding speed, me and Alexander hearing the gasps of other people, us watching our impending doom. The glass was about to hit me when I felt something hard and cold pull me out of the way. I fell to the ground and watched the chandelier hit the ground, with Alexander underneath it.

It hit me. Alexander was underneath it. He was hit by the chandelier. He was either extremely injured, or dead.

I blacked out.

"Bella! Are you alright?" I looked up to see Edward Cullen standing over me, with a concerned look on his face.

"I'm fine," I told him. "Where's Alexander?" I asked him frantically.

"I'm sorry, Bella, my father just announced that he is dead." He told me sullenly.

"D-dead?" My voice cracked.

He just nodded.

"How did you pull me out of the way then?" I asked him in confusion.

"I was quite close to you." He told me matter-of-factly.

"No you weren't, you were across the ballroom, with your family." I debated.

"No I wasn't." He argued.

"I _saw _you." I told him.

"I think you're confused. Maybe it's shock, because I have no idea what you are talking about." He replied nonchalantly.

"I know what I saw!" My voice was getting louder.

"And what was that?" He asked me with slight annoyance.

"All I know is that you were nowhere near me. I saw you standing over by your family behind a bunch of people. So don't say I am confused. You ran over to me at blinding speed and pulled me out of the way." I said quietly.

"Well, no on is going to believe you." He told me smugly.

"Oh, so you admit it?" I challenged.

"Can't you just thank me and get over it?" His anger was growing stronger.

"Thank you." I mumbled.

"You're not going to let this go are you?" He asked.

"No."

"Well, in that case, I hope you enjoy disappointment." He smirked at me and walked away.

I stared after him in irritation. He was so confusing! I was so caught up in my thoughts about Edward, that I almost forgot about Alexander's death. Geez, what kind of friend was I? Leaving your dead dance partner to try and find out why some strange boy pulled you out of the way of a chandelier. I was disgusted with myself.

I walked over to where Alexander's dead body lay. Who I assumed was Dr. Cullen looked up at me with a concerned face.

"Miss Swan? Your dance partner hasn't survived the impact of the glass and the chandelier. His injuries were fatal, and it's too late to revive him. I'm so sorry. Would you like some time alone with him?" He asked sincerely.

I nodded. He walked away as I leaned over Alexander's dead body and hugged him to me. He felt cold in my arms due to his blood cooling. I started to cry and whisper mutterings of apology. I wept for what seemed like hours when someone came up to me. The person told me that they had to take his body away for the autopsy. I sniffled, nodded, and stood up. I went to the back room to get my dance bag. I walked out and ran into Alice Cullen. I looked down at her and she flashed me a comforting smile.

"I am so sorry, Bella. Truly, I am," she said quietly and hugged me. She was so cold and hard for a tiny girl. I reciprocated the gesture and hugged her back.

We finally released our embrace and she said she had to leave, but also told me that she would be there for me any time I needed her. I thanked her for that, because honestly, I did need someone to be there over the loss of my dance partner. Of course, I would still dance, but I needed a new dance partner. Or, I could always go solo. But, it was not about my future now. I had to make arrangements for Alexander's funeral. I let out another sob at the thought of his death. Yes, I would surely miss him.

I exited the ballroom, the last time I would ever exit that ballroom, and walked to my beetle. I drove home, fighting tears the whole way.

Charlie wasn't home yet, and it was pretty late, so I went upstairs to bed, crying myself to sleep.

That was the first night I dreamt of Edward Cullen.

* * *

_AN: Yay! Fourth chapter finished. The reason for the eerie feeling in her was because of you know who. ;D Review!!_


	5. Indifference

_Disclaimer_: As much as I'd love to own these characters, they are the works of Stephenie Meyer, except Alexander, he's mine.

**Chapter Five: Indifference**

Alexander's death did strange things to me.

The morning after his death, I couldn't move. It's not that I didn't want to move, it's just that I physically _couldn't._It was as if I was strapped to a hospital bed, like some crazy lunatic being strapped in against their will. I felt as though there was a huge weight holding me down. The weight of guilt. If only I had been paying attention to Alexander instead of Edward Cullen, I might have been able to pull him out from under the chandelier. Yes, the guilt was excruciating.

I didn't get to talk to my dad the night that his death happened, but I was pretty sure he had already heard. There were no secrets in Forks.

I yawned and stretched as I stood up. I went to the bathroom to do my normal human routine. Brush teeth, brush hair, go to the bathroom, et cetera. I looked at myself in the mirror, and I looked horrible. I had purple bags under my eyes from waking up during the night. My eyes were empty, dull, not full of light like they used to be. It was as if my soul had left my body and gone with Alexander up to the great beyond. I washed my face went to lay down in my bed.

That is what I did all day Sunday. Mourn over my lost best friend.

My dad came upstairs a few times to comfort me, but any attempts were no good. I needed a distraction from Alexander's death. Something other than dancing, which reminded me of him, but of course I would still do it. Dancing was my life. Maybe I could start hanging out with new friends? That would be distracting, and annoying. And, besides, none of my friends enjoy dancing. Edward does, but he wasn't my friend. I never knew why I was so attracted to him. Sure, he was good looking, but so was Alexander, and I never looked at him as any more than a friend.

I sighed.

Monday morning came quickly, and I had to get up and go to school, although I didn't want to. I stood up, yawned, and walked to the bathroom to do my human routine. I dressed in a midnight blue blouse, and a cream flowing skirt, and my cream, lace flats, again. I wore my hair straight, and wore no makeup.

The eerie feeling started to arise again. It never really left, but it was more prominent now. I could feel the shivers rack up and down my spine. It was worse than the time in town, like whoever was "spying" on me had gotten so close that my body could sense it. It was nerve-wracking.

I begrudgingly entered my car and started it. I pulled out of my driveway and made my journey towards school.

In addition to the eerie feeling, I started to sense that someone was.. _following_ me. Ha! Like you would get anything from following me to school.

I pulled in the parking lot. I parked my car farther away from the school this time. I exited my car, with my dance bag and school bag, and with a sulking manner, walked towards the school.

I walked into my first period class to see all eyes on me. Obviously they had found out about Alexander. Some maybe thought it was my fault. Yeah, my fault that the chandelier fell on him. Some were looking at me with sympathy, for which I was grateful. Eric tried to start a conversation with me, as well as Mike, but I just wasn't in the mood. I put my head down on the desk, feeling the stares boring into me.

That was basically how my morning went. I wouldn't talk to anyone, because I was too busy mourning, sometimes weeping, over my closest friend of all eternity.

At lunch, Mike tried to start another conversation with me. He was comforting me for my loss. I was grateful for the attention for the first time.

I looked over at the Cullen table, and none of the Cullens looked at me, besides Alice. She had a remorseful expression on her face, like she was upset about something too. Beautiful people shouldn't be upset. Before I could continue that thought, Edward looked at her with deadly eyes, clearly warning her to stop looking at me. How he knew that she was, I don't know, but Alice looked away and didn't look at me again.

That was how is was all throughout February.

All of the Cullens ignored me, and I ignored them. Edward did not speak to me again after he saved me. I was unnerved by this. I would expect him to talk to me more now that we had started talking, but I guess I was wrong.

Mike would walk me to Biology class everyday, and then talk with me before class started. He was a great distraction, as well as Angela, from the pain of Alexander. He would talk about the most random things, and some interesting. But, I slowly found myself laughing at some of the things he said. I thought I'd never laugh again.

Edward, of course, ignored me. Who could blame him? I wasn't interesting, not in the least. Sometimes I could see him clench his fists on his lap, or turn his head towards me. It seemed like he wanted to talk to me, or kill me, for all I know.

Mike also walked me to the music room so I can practice "solo dancing." Alexander always wanted us to travel the world as a duo. Now that he was gone, all I could do was get good grades and practice dancing. He would be proud if I stuck with dancing rather than giving it up, at least for now.

I was now starting to think of college life without him. I realized that the only reason I wanted to go to college and live a normal life was because Alexander was in it. Now that he was gone, why would I want to go to college? Maybe I will become a professional dancer. All I had to do was find a new partner. That was going to be tough.

The spring dance was coming up, and I didn't really want to go. That didn't mean that a bunch of boys didn't want to ask me.

I first heard about the spring dance from Jessica at lunch one day.

"I really hope Mike says yes to my invite to the dance. We would look really good together, don't you think Bella?" I nodded. "I don't see who else he would ask. There is no one prettier. I wonder what kind of dress I will buy. Maybe one of those long and elegant ones. No, that's too proper. Maybe a shorter one, and leave some room for the imagination.." she ranted on about the dance and Mike. All I could do was watch her like an idiot. She sure did talk fast.

Mike walked me to Biology, blushing every now and then. He would also look over at me every once and awhile, like he was scared I would run away from him. I mentally chuckled.

We walked into the classroom and I took my seat next to Edward, and Mike crouched down next to me, like he did everyday.

"Jessica asked me to the spring dance," he muttered.

"Wow! That's great! You'll have so much fun with Jessica," I said with fake enthusiasm.

"Well.." he trailed off.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"I told her that I didn't know," he told me, another blush rising to his cheeks.

"Why would you do that?" I asked, interested.

"Well, I was hoping that.. you might ask me." His blush got deeper.

I noticed a few things at once, my stomach started to churn, Mike's blush got even deeper, and Edward Cullen's hand turned into a fist on his lap. His head was turned towards me, like he was anxious to hear what I said.

"Mike.." I started, "I don't think that is a very good idea."

Mike's face fell at once. He looked so sad that I debated on changing my mind, but I didn't want to start a conflict with Jessica, or anyone else for that matter.

"Did someone else already ask you?" His tone was angry.

"No, I am not going to the dance at all. In fact, I am going to a hotel to dance as entertainment." I told him smoothly.

"How are you going to dance if you don't have a partner?" he asked rudely. I could've sworn I heard a quiet growl next to me.

"I am going to find a new one," I spat at him. He cringed. Good.

"I can be your dance partner." Hope swelled in his voice.

"Sorry, no. I need someone who can dance phenomenally and in time with me." I told him, crushing his hopes. "So, you shouldn't make Jessica wait any longer, it's rude." I told him while looking down.

"I suppose you're right," he muttered. He trudged back to his seat.

I put my hands to my forehead. Just when I was starting to get myself distracted out of thoughts of Alexander, he just had to bring it up again. Now a whole round of thoughts about Alexander and my guilt soared through my mind. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Edward relax his stiff position.

I put my head down for the rest of the class.

When the bell rang I got out of my seat without hesitation. I rushed to the music room so I could practice dancing for the hotel dancing. Just as I was about to walk in the separate room, Tyler caught up with me.

"Hey, Bella!" he yelled.

"Yes?" I replied hesitantly.

He started to put his hands on my hips and around my back. I was definitely not comfortable with such contact. He started to sway his hips back and forth, in a slow dancing motion. I tried to pry his hands off of me, but he was too strong.

"What are you doing?" I probed him.

"Practicing." His voice was cocky.

"For?" I questioned.

"The dance at the hotel," he told me smugly.

"Since when are you going to the hotel to dance?" I asked him.

"Since you turned Mike down," he smiled. Then I got it. He thought that since I turned Mike down, that I wanted him to be my dance partner.

"Just who do you think you are trying to tell me who is going to be my dance partner for the dance at the hotel? And, how did you find out anyway?" I challenged.

"Oh, well, Mike told me. I thought you wanted to go with me," he said.

"No, Tyler. I need a really good dancer to go with me. And, if I can't find one, I am going solo." My tone was not apologetic at all.

"Oh well. We still have prom." And, with that, he sauntered off. Oh, he was cocky indeed.

My jaw dropped as my eyes followed him as he walked out of the classroom.

The whole music class was staring at me as well as the teacher. I saw Alice Cullen giggling in her seat, and Edward Cullen was on the verge of laughing. I glared at them before I walked off into the next room.

The rest of the period was spent solo dancing to modern music. The people at the hotel told me I would be dancing to more modern music, unless I get a dance partner. So I danced to a few dance songs I knew. The bell rang, I changed, and started to walk outside.

"Bella?" a musical voice came from behind me.

I turned around to see Edward sitting on a bench by the door. He looked so sad.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I know I have been acting rudely for the past couple of weeks, but you must know, that it is for your own good." His voice was so beautiful.

"What do you mean?" I challenged.

"It means that if you were smart, you would stay away from me," he replied.

I turned around to walk away, but, just my luck, I ran into a pole. I looked down at my arm, and it was bleeding. It wasn't that

He stood up and walked over to me. He got closer and closer until he was flush against me . He put his lips to my throat, and started to inhale. My heart fluttered, a blush crept up to my cheeks, and my stomach had butterflies. He started rubbing his lips back and forth across my throat. I felt even more eerie than I had ever felt, but I couldn't make him stop.

"Stop me, Bella," he muttered roughly.

All I could do was breathe faster as his tongue darted out and left a trail of cold, wetness on my throat. He was so dazzling, I almost lost consciousness. His teeth came through his lips, as if he were about to bite me.

"Run, Bella!" he said to me in a louder voice.

This time I took his warning by turning around, removing myself out of his arms, and running towards my beetle. I pulled out of the parking lot, not looking back.

I got home and locked the door in fear. He seriously had scared me to death. He was definitely something else. No human I know would go up to someone and start licking their neck. He was something, but what? I made it my "mission," if you can call it that, to find out the hidden mystery to Edward Cullen.

I made Charlie dinner that night. I made him lasagna, one of his favorite dishes. We talked about what he found up county. He said the "animal" that was reported was some sort of human. After that, I walked upstairs without another word, when Charlie interrupted me.

"Bells?" he inquired.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Did anyone ask you to the spring dance?" Yes, it was only in a town this small that the dads knew about when their child's spring dances were.

"Yes, but I am not going." I told him.

"Why not?" he probed.

"Don't you remember? I have to dance at the hotel." I was starting to get annoyed.

"But, how are you going to dance without Ale-" he started, but the words were already out.

My face twisted in pain. Once again, someone had to bring up the source of my guilt.

"Either I'll find a new dance partner, or I will dance solo." I blushed.

He looked sorry. "Okay, Bells. You going up?" he asked.

"Yes. I will talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight, dad." I told him.

"Goodnight, Bella," he said quietly.

I walked upstairs to do my nightly routine. I walked in my room, and crawled into my bed. I pulled the covers over myself and fell asleep quickly.

That night I felt as though I wasn't alone throughout my dreams.

* * *

_AN: Hmmm, Edward gives more hints that he is a vampire. Reviews are love!! :D_


	6. Invitations

_Disclaimer_: As much as I'd love to own these characters, they are the works of Stephenie Meyer, except Alexander, he's mine.

**Chapter Six: Invitations**

I woke up cold the next morning. Unlike the pleasant dreams I had about Edward previous nights, last night's dream was excruciatingly frightening. Maybe that was why I was sweating.

I sniffed the air. I could smell something sweet, alluring. It was recent too. How strange.

I went to have my "human minute," as I liked to call it, and walked downstairs to get my breakfast. Charlie was sitting there, looking concerned. Wasn't he supposed to be at work today?

"Dad? What are you doing here?" I asked begrudgingly.

"I wanted to warn you. Didn't I tell you that the "animal" we saw up county was human?" I nodded. "Well, there have been some deaths in Seattle as of late, and I want you to stay clear of Seattle for awhile. Where exactly is this hotel you're dancing at?" he asked.

"It's in Seattle. But, I am working on finding a replacement partner." I lied. I was planning on going regardless because I already confirmed.

"Alright, Bella. Just be careful, okay? You worry me sometimes." My dad told me with concern in his voice.

"Okay, dad." Then I remembered a question I had for him.

"Um, dad?" I asked.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Is there something going on with the Cullens? I've heard a few people talking about them." I asked nonchalantly.

His eyes flashed with something I had never seen on his face before: disbelief.

"The nerve of some people! Dr. Cullen and his family have been nothing but kind since they moved to this town! I thought we were going to have problems with all those teenagers living here, but they've been nothing but polite and courteous." That was the longest speech I had ever heard Charlie make. It seemed the subject of the Cullens was a big deal to him.

"Oh." I ended that conversation.

It seems my dad only stayed home to tell me that. So after he told me those things, he left for work. I made myself breakfast, eggs and toast, considering I had time before I had to get ready for school. I continued to think of what my dad said about what my dad said about the Cullens. If they were so polite, why was the youngest Cullen being so rude? Or better, so _scary_. I wasn't that scared of what he did yesterday. Just his warning sparked something temporary in me. Like he was about to attack. Like an animal.

I finished my breakfast and climbed the stairs to get ready for school. I wore a light pink sweater and white pants with light pink ballet slippers I had. It really looked cute. I also put on a pearl necklace that belonged to my grandmother.

I pranced downstairs to get my school bag and dance bag. Making sure I got everything, I walked outside to my beetle. I entered the vehicle with the same eerie feeling I have been having the past month or so. I pulled out of my driveway and I was off to school.

I entered the parking lot and pulled as far away from the silver Volvo as I could. I exited the car, and, much to my disfortune, dropped the keys in a puddle of water. I reached down to get it, but was beaten by a flashing white hand. I stood straight back up to see Edward leaning against my car, twirling my keys in his right hand.

"How do you _do_ that?" I asked, amazed.

He chuckled.

"Bella, it's not my fault you are exceptionally unobservant," he chuckled at his joke.

"Ha ha. Now, can I please have my key back?" I asked.

He dropped it in my palm and I started to walk away, annoyed.

"Hey, wait!" he beseeched me.

"What?" I spat rather roughly, a result of my annoyance.

"I'm sorry," he chuckled, once again, "you distracted me. I wanted to ask you a question." He smiled.

"And that is?" I challenged.

"Well, I was wondering if, next Saturday, the day you go to the hotel to dance for people.." he trailed off.

I was about to interrupt him when he continued.

"If you'd like me to be your dance partner. I heard you say you needed to find one, or you'd be doing a solo act." He smiled again.

I could only stare at his beauty. The way his eyes gleamed gold, the way his bronze hair was unruly and messy, the way he stood when he was waiting for an answer. The way his beautiful skin reflected under the sheltered building. Positively gorgeous. So, my simple answer was a lame nod.

He smiled widely then, a little scarily. He sauntered off and said something like, "you really stay away from me."

I stared after him in awe. Just the way he walked was hypnotizing. I stood there for what felt like ten or so minutes, but the first period bell rang loudly. I tore my eyes from his figure, and walked off to first period. Before I got there, though, Mike stopped me.

"Why were you talking to Cullen?" he asked, jealousy flaring.

"He was just asking me a question about Biology homework," I lied smoothly. I was not going to let Mike know about Edward being my dance partner. Firstly, it would make Mike angry, and I don't want to risk my friendship with him. Secondly, I didn't know if people knowing I was with Edward would set off rumors, which I certainly didn't want. Thirdly, he wasn't normal, and I didn't want to tell anyone about us going anywhere, in case they get suspicious. If Edward was hiding a secret, then I would definitely not want to start a fire.

"He's weird. I don't know why someone as pretty as you would talk to someone so weird," he muttered.

I shrugged and walked away.

What just happened? Edward Cullen just asked me if he could be my dance partner for the hotel thing. I was split between being ecstatic and being nervous. I was more ecstatic than nervous, of course. I would have to start practicing with. He would have to touch me, hold me in my arms. My breath sped at that thought.

I advanced to first period English class. I entered the classroom and sat down in my seat. The teacher started his lecture and I dozed off.

What could Edward Cullen be that would make him want to bite me in the throat? He was an extra-_something. _Maybe not a superhero, but strong as one. He was fast as one. He was cold as someone dead, or immortal. Immortal? Edward Cullen? That would explain his old-fashioned dialogue, and his enjoyment for older music. But biting? The only time I see biting to the throat going on is when I watch vampire movies.

A.. _vampire?_

That was absurd. Vampires didn't exist. It had to be something else. Maybe, a superhuman or something along those lines.

Even if he _was_ a vampire, I wouldn't mind. I liked him too much already, more than anyone I'd ever known. I found myself reacting to him in ways I didn't know I could react. Like my stomach will churn, or a blush would shade my face, not that my body hasn't done that before, just in the presence of a boy, my heart will speed up, and my breathing will accelerate. That was all really, really idiotic.

The bell rang in the middle of my reverie and I was off to Government. Eric walked me, but I did not acknowledge his presence. I was too busy in thoughts of Edward Cullen.

"...spring dance next Saturday," Eric mumbled quietly.

"What was that?" I inquired.

"I asked of you wanted to go to the spring dance with me next Saturday." He blushed.

"Oh. I, um, have something that day. I have a hotel to dance at. I am already confirmed so I can't back out even if I wanted to." Truth be told, I was not confirmed. I lied to him not only for the reason of having an excuse to deny him, but also, I needed a distraction. Like I said, anything to distract me from Alexander. Speaking of him, I had to talk to my dad about his funeral after school today.

"Oh, maybe next time then," he muttered.

"Sure," I replied.

He trudged off with his shoulders slumped. I almost felt bad. Almost.

The rest of the morning was spent pondering over Edward Cullen. Over what he could possibly be. He was definitely not human, I could tell. Maybe he was bitten by a radioactive spider. No that's just silly, stealing from comic books.

I followed the hungry crowd to lunch while staring at my feet. I sat down at my usual table, partially listening to Jessica's daily chatter. After Mike accepted her invite to the dance, she had been ecstatic, talking about everything possible to do for the dance.

"So I was thinking about going to Port Angeles to go dress shopping sometime next week. I want to look good at the dance." She babbled on. She planned on taking Angela. Then she asked me if I wanted to go with them.

"Um, sure. I need a new dress for the hotel dance thing next Saturday anyway." I told her, but she looked like she had no idea what I said.

"Jess?" I questioned, confused.

"Um, Edward Cullen is staring at you." Her eyes led to where he was sitting, all alone, looking at me. I blushed.

"I wonder why he is sitting along today.." she continued.

Edward caught my eye, lifted his hand and motioned for me to come over with his index finger. He winked, as well. My jaw dropped.

"Does he mean you?" she asked, jealousy in her voice.

"Um, maybe, I'm not sure. I better go see what he wants." I told her.

I stood up slowly, and walked over to him, tripping two times in the process. I stood behind a chair from across from him, holding on to the back of it. I stared at him and waited for him to start talking, if he was going to.

"Would you like to sit with me today?" he asked.

"Sure," I muttered. I made no hesitation to sit down. I pulled back the seat and sat down quickly. He chuckled.

I just stared at him, waiting for him to start. But, he seemed to be waiting for the same thing. So I started.

"So, what brought all this on?" I asked him warily.

He chuckled again. "I decided that since I am going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly."

"That doesn't make any sense," I told him.

He smiled, "I know."

I continued to stare at him. He stared right back at me with his piercing topaz eyes.

"What are you thinking?" He sounded relieved when she asked this.

"I am trying to figure out what you are." And I was.

He hesitated for a little bit, giving away the fact that he seemed.. nervous about this piece of information.

"Are you having any luck with that?" he probed.

"Not exactly. I have, though, thought of a few things, of course," I told him.

"Would you tell me?" he asked.

"No, it's too embarrassing," I blushed.

"Just one?" he pleaded.

"No." I returned.

"That's alright, then. I will get it out of you eventually," he smiled widely.

"I'd like to see you try," I challenged him.

"Oh, I will," he said, confident in his task.

"So, uh, what was with yesterday?" I asked him.

"I won't tell you if you won't tell me," he smiled even wider.

"Wow, you caught me, and it wasn't even ten seconds yet." I laughed. He laughed as well.

"So if you tell me _one_ theory, I will tell you why I did that yesterday," he smiled.

"Um, well, bitten by a radioactive spider?" I was _not _going to tell him about the thoughts of vampires. At least, not yet. I was going to wait for him to tell me that one on his own. If it's his secret, I wanted him to admit it.

He chuckled, "Nope."

"No radioactive spiders?" I inquired.

"Nope, never," he said smoothly.

"Okay, then. I told you one, now you tell me one." I smiled expectantly.

"My brothers dared me to lick your neck to scare you," he chuckled.

I did not believe him for one second. He may be a good liar, but no one goes up to someone and licks their neck on a dare. Plus, Edward looked serious when he said to stop him and the telling me to run away. The idea of him licking my neck on a dare was laughable. But, I dropped it, not wanted to beseech him.

"Why?" I asked.

"They thought it would be funny. If I did scare you, though, I apologize," he said sincerely.

"Oh, it's alright." I smiled.

I wanted to talk to him about the hotel thing. So I started to ask him questions.

"So, um. For the hotel dancing job, you wanted to be my partner?" I questioned.

"That seems about right," he smiled.

"Well, I have a few questions for you. I have never had another partner besides Alexander." I told him.

"Alright, then," he said nonchalantly.

"Well, have you ever danced to older music, from the fifties or sixties?" I asked him.

"Yes," he smiled.

"Have you!?" I asked, surprised.

"I have," he laughed.

"Well, that's good then!" I said, excited for this new opportunity to dance with someone new.

"Are you a good leader?" I probed him.

That's how we finished the lunch period. Talking about the hotel dancing, and how he danced and stuff like that. He also said that since he was in the music room the same time that I was going to the music room, we could practice in the other room, if the teacher would allow him, of course.

We exited the cafeteria beside each other, and walked off to Biology class.

We had a lab that day. We had to look through the microscope and identify the different types or protists, fungi, animals, plants, archaebacteria, and eubacteria. We finished the lab before anyone else in the class. We sat down and started to talk to each other.

"Bella?" Edward asked.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"I won't be here the next couple of days," he said quietly.

"Why not?" I probed him.

"Well, my family is going hiking. My family always goes hiking on nice days," he said.

"Oh okay. That's alright, I suppose. We have today and all next week to practice," I told him.

"Thanks, Bella," he smiled at me.

In the music room, after Biology, after his teacher agreed, we danced together for awhile to some songs that could be playing at the hotel. I had to say, he was an excellent dancer. Maybe even better than Alexander, and that was saying something.

We danced to various fifties songs, none of which I could name. But, he knew the words to all the songs, and he would sing them lightly while we were dancing. When we started to dance to the sixties music, he quit singing.

"Why did you stop?" I asked him.

"Ugh, I hate sixties music, and seventies," he went on. "The eighties were tolerable."

"That's okay, I am not a big fan of sixties or seventies either. I just like to dance to them," I reassured him kindly. He smiled.

We twirled gracefully for the rest of the period. I liked having Edward in my arms, and me in his. It felt safe, even though he wasn't human. I felt comfortable in his arms. He was hard as a rock, though.

When the period ended, he walked me to gym and we parted there. I was not going to see him for a few days, so I was going to start calling the hotel to see if I could get the playlist to the songs we were to dance to. I needed to tell them that I had a new dance partner anyway, so it all worked out perfect.

In gym, I ended up hurting myself with a volleyball. I jumped up to spike it and ended up getting hit in the head with it. Of course, everyone laughed at me, big surprise there.

I walked to my beetle and got in the car. I pulled out of the parking lot and drove home.

My dad wasn't home yet so I started to cook dinner before he got home. I decided to not tell him about my partnership with Edward Cullen, for he would ask many questions about it. I was not in the mood to be interrogated. I cooked up French dinner, something I hardly ever do. Much to my surprise, Charlie loved it.

"That was really good, Bella! You should make that everyday," he said while rubbing his gut.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. By the way, when is Alexander's funeral?" I asked.

"This Saturday, Bella," he told me.

"Alright, dad, thanks for arranging it. It means a lot." I thanked him.

"You're welcome, Bells," he replied.

I finished doing the dishes, and walked upstairs to do some homework. By the time I was finished with Trig, I was starting to feel a little slumberous. When I was finished with my homework, I went to take and shower and have my human minute.

I put on some tatty old pajamas and crawled under the covers and fell asleep quickly.

That night I had a dream much like the first night. Only tonight I had a dream I was dancing with Edward Cullen, instead of a silhouette.

* * *

_AN: Yayyy, sixth chapter is done! School starts for me on the 24th of August. So, my updates may take a day or two longer. It all really depends on how much homework I get. :( Review please!! :D_


	7. Secrets

_Disclaimer_: As much as I'd love to own these characters, they are the works of Stephenie Meyer, except Alexander, he's mine.

**Chapter Seven: Secrets**

The next three days were a blur. Maybe it was because I was getting over my guilt, rather quickly I might add. Sunday was pretty bad, and Monday, somewhat. Tuesday, I almost totally forgot about Alexander's death. That only made me feel guilty, forgetting about someone so important to me. But, I did say I had a plan to distract myself, right? Maybe not a plan, though, but a promise. I felt like I deserved to be guilty.

On Wednesday, Jessica re-invited me to Port Angeles to go dress shopping with her and Angela, considering she didn't hear me accept her invitation the day before. Of course, she was too busy ogling my new dance partner. Angela rolled her eyes as she did this. Hmm, she must've been thinking the same thing as me.

After school that day, I called the hotel to see what our playlist was and what time we were to come in. The information I acquired that day were very helpful. I found that we would be going there in the morning, around 8:00, and we were to go on at 10:00 AM. The owner of the hotel only gave us part of our playlist. She was not very nice, literally.

"I'm only going to give you four of the songs," she said in a nasally voice. It sounded squeaky and mousy. It was as if she was a thirteen year old with a bad attitude.

"And what are they?" I asked as kindly as I could, trying to stay on her good side.

"Hold on!" she screeched.

I was baffled.

What seemed like ten minutes later, she came back and told me the playlist, well, part of it. I wrote it down so I didn't forget. She continued on, telling me about that me and my partner better be there or she would make us pay in ways that I couldn't comprehend. I stifled a laugh.

When I finally hung up, I looked down at the partial playlist and read what she told me.

_"Lollipop," by the Chordettes  
"Be My Baby," by the Ronettes  
"Do You Love Me," by the Contours  
"Love Man," by Otis Redding_

Three of the four songs were on one of my favorite movies, Dirty Dancing. Two of those three were ones that the dancers on the movie danced_ dirty_ to. Ha, there was no way I was dancing dirty with Edward. The idea was laughable.

The next day, Thursday, was basically the same monotonous day as the day as before, without Edward there. Jessica, Mike, Eric, Tyler, and Angela all invited me to go to La Push on Sunday, the day after Alexander's funeral. I reluctantly agreed, because, I needed distractions. I was making progress, even though it was so soon after his death.

Nothing happened after school on Thursday. I made Charlie dinner, went upstairs to perfect my already finished homework, took my human minute, put on my poor excuse for pajamas, and covered myself in blankets to fall asleep. Of course, we all know what I dreamed about that night.

On Friday, nothing out of the particular happened except the fact I was late to two of my classes, and I'm almost never late. I was getting more and more gloomy by the day. You didn't have to read my mind to know it was because of Edward Cullen's absence.

I made Charlie dinner that night, and went to bed.

On Saturday, the second saddest day of my existence, me and Charlie went to Alexander's funeral.

We walked to the cemetery in Forks. We were greeted by the Golds. Alexander's mom, his dad, his sister, Dakota, and some of Alexander's close friends from Phoenix. We hugged each and every one of them, tightly. Especially his mother, Sally. She needed it. She looked as if she was going to die right there at his grave.

We all gathered around his grave, all clad in black. The minister started to speak sweet things about Alexander and how great of a person he was. And he was. He was such a great person. Someone who didn't deserve to die. Someone who should've had a chance to live. Someone who shouldn't have died alone. _I _should've died with him that day.

"Alexander Gold was one of the best dancers our youth has seen today. He has been kind and courteous to everyone he has ever met. He has been loved by many and envied by little. He had great family and friends to stand by. He was a gentleman in every way, and he knew when it was okay to be silly. He never would hurt a fly and always put his friends and family first. He would help whoever was hurt and in need.." the minister went on about how great and wonderful Alexander was. It was then my turn to say something for Alexander.

"Alexander was my best friend in many ways. He was my dance partner, my first one, as well as my best friend. He was the best dancer I had ever seen in my entire life. He was so good to me since we were young. He never tried to be anything more than a friend to me and I am thankful for that." I was bawling by the time I was finished. It wasn't until right now that I was totally remorseful for his death. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Alexander cared for me in so many ways it almost hurt. Alexander would want me to live on my life instead of grieving over him, which I was doing now. He would be happy if I got over his death quickly. He loved to see me happy. It was as if my happiness spread through to him when I expressed it. He would always court me everywhere in public, and joke around with me when we were alone. That's what I loved about him so much, his warm-hearted nature. He respected everyone even when he got no respect in return. He would respect me too, since my recent thoughts have been about Edward Cullen. He would forgive me, and love me forever. He would watch over me and make sure no harm came my way. He would always be my best friend.

Sally was up next. What she said touched me, and made me feel guilty.

"Alexander was my first born child. He was lonely as a young child. He never had many friends, but his family loved him. When he got a little bit older, Alexander met his best friend, Bella Swan. She made him happier in so many ways. You could see the light in his eyes when he was finished hanging out with her. She made him such a happy kid all the way up to high school and beyond. She was always there for my boy and never left him for anybody.." she trailed on about how I was there for him at all times. That was true until recently. My mind has been filled with Edward Cullen. Another reason to feel guilty, her praising me.

The funeral ended later after that. They lowered his casket into the square hole in the ground. Mostly everyone left, mind me, to go home. Charlie was waiting in the car for me. He knew I wanted to talk to Alexander for one last time.

When no one was around, I lowered myself to the ground and sat beside the hole.

"Alex? Can you hear me?" I beseeched.

Nothing.

"It's me, Bella. I came here to talk to you one last time before you were buried," I went on.

Silence, still.

"I wanted to tell you something. Alex, I am so sorry. Sorry for all the things I have done to you, even though your gone. I am sorry I couldn't save you when you got crushed by the chandelier. I'm sorry for not acknowledging your death until now. Even though my thoughts have been of Edward Cullen, that doesn't mean I forgot about you. Forgot about your friendship to me. You're my best friend, Alex! I will miss even more now that I felt the impact. Don't you ever forget that!" I was crying so hard I thought my eyes were pouring buckets of tears down my face.

"A-a-and, don't e-ever forget about the times we spent together-r," I cried on.

"And, and don't y-you ever forget how much you mean to me! How much I love you!" I was totally spent by the time I finished that.

_I have always loved you, Bella._

My head snapped up. I could've sworn I heard Alexander's voice.

"W-what?" I responded to either Alexander's ghost or nothing.

_I have always loved you. Ever since we were kids. Not just the friend love, real love. I never told you because it seemed you were happy just being my friend. I was okay with that, as long as you were happy. That was the main thing, your happiness. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to tell you that before my death. I decided to tell you now. I love you, Bella. I will always love you. Forever. And, I know about Edward. I forgive you for whatever you're sorry for. I want you to be happy with him, human or not._

He said nothing else after that, and neither did I.

I placed the single rose I had with my on his casket and muttered the words, "I love you too Alex. I'm sorry it wasn't enough."

That was all I said.

I ran back to Charlie's cruiser in silence, besides my tears. I never knew that Alexander loved me. It was all about my happiness that he kept that in the dark. I was in between touched and guilty. Touched because he proved himself greater a friend to me. Guilty because it made me look like an even crummier friend. I also felt guilty because I couldn't love him the way he loved me. A true, deep love versus a friend love.

I went to sleep that night in tears.

The next morning I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock. It read 7:00 AM. I needed to get up, I had to go to La Push today.

I didn't really want to go there. Alexander's confession had broken my heart into one million little pieces. It was out of love that he let me be happy instead of being selfish and letting himself be happy. Why should I let myself be happy? I should just torture myself some more.

Ah, but didn't Alexander say he wanted me to be happy?

What I felt I should do and what I wanted to do were two different things.

I forced myself out of bed and into the shower to get ready for La Push. I washed my hair and blow-dried it to be soft. I put on some kacki style capris and a navy blue scoop necked, off the shoulder blouse with a knot in the front. I pulled on some navy flip flops, since the day was going to be nice, and walked downstairs, sullenly.

My dad was already gone, so I made myself some breakfast in silence. I had an eerie feeling, once again, but beside it, I felt a warmth. It was as if I was free from being chained to a wall for years and years. It was like a symbol of my freedom. Like I didn't have to live in a world of guilt over Alexander. Had Alexander's confession freed me?

I put the thought aside for later examination. I ate my cereal and washed the bowl out and put it away. I checked the time and felt it was a good time to leave. I walked out to my beetle and started the engine.

I got to La Push in record time, and got out to see everyone there already. Mike waved me over and I forced a smile for his sake.

"Hey, Bella!" Mike sounded enthusiastic about something. Whether it be my arrival or surfing, I had no clue.

"Hey Mike." I mumbled.

"So, hey, some of us were going to take a hike up in the mountains. You wanna join our group?" he asked hopefully.

"Um, no thanks, Mike. I just woke up not too long ago and I am still kind of tired. So I might just rest for a little bit here. Maybe, later?" I asked him, so he would leave me alone.

"Okay!" he yelled in a happy voice. It was very easy to make Mike happy.

I sat down on a log near the fire pit in the middle of the beach. I went over yesterday's events a few times in my mind. I never knew anything about angels, but I read in stories that angels cannot leave the Earth unless they succeed in something they didn't do when they were alive. It seemed Alexander's "mission" was to prove to me that he loved me, or at least tell me so I knew. I did believe him. There was no one out there that could love me as much as him. He really hid his love for me well, if I didn't notice it. Or maybe I wasn't enough attention to him to _see _it.

The guilt crept up again. I fought it back.

I spent the rest of the day by the fire, just staring at it, like a statue. Frozen forever.

I was starting to get tired, so I stood up and was about to make my way back to my beetle before I heard someone talking in a nasally voice much like the person who owned the hotel.

"So, Bella? I heard you are partnered up with Edward Cullen to go to my mother's hotel next weekend." The nasally voice was of a girl with long, straight blonde hair. She was one of the people who glared at me on my first day of school.

"Yes." I answered simply.

"Well, how come he isn't here now? Shouldn't he be here with you, you know, if he's your _dance_ partner?" she sneered. She was a very bitchy girl.

One of the darker colored people, a Quileute, I assumed, spoke up.

"The Cullens are forbidden from these lands," the tall dark boy with long black hair hissed.

"Why?" I asked, interested. That was the first time I thought of the Cullens all day long. It seems my guilt has consumed me in any way, shape, or form.

"That's none of your business!" he snapped.

I stood and started to walk away.

"Hey, Bella!" am unfamiliar, husky voice called out to me.

I turned to see a short, tan boy, maybe about the age of fourteen or fifteen. He has cute dimples on each side of his cheeks. He had long black hair, much like the rest of the Quileutes. He had beautiful brown, almost black, eyes. He wore a smile, flashing all his perfectly white teeth.

"Um, who are you?" I laughed.

"You don't remember me!?" he sounded surprised.

"No..?" I was confused.

"It's Jacob! Jacob Black!" he smiled at me.

Jacob Black? Oh! My dad told me about them. I played with him when I was little, and he rebuilt my beetle.

"Oh, you mean the one who rebuilt my beetle?" I probed.

"Yeah, that's me!" He sounded so ecstatic I thought he was going to pop like a balloon.

I chuckled.

"So, um, what's up?" I asked him, trying to start a conversation.

"Oh, nothing much, just coming to say hi to people that I don't know. And then I saw you here! I recognized you immediately!" he rambled on.

"Hmm, wow. I don't recognize you at all." I told him, laughing, letting him know I was joking, kind of.

He laughed too. "So, what do you say about taking a walk with me down the beach?" he asked hopefully.

"Um, sure!" I smiled. He seemed like an easy person to get along with.

We started to walk down the beach. He told me about himself. He told me about his friends, school, his dad, Billy, what he did for fun down here at the reservation, et cetera. I just listened, interested. He had a lot to say that sounded interesting.

"So, why do you look so sad?" he looked sad too, like my gloomy manner was rubbing off on him.

"Oh, um, my best friend's funeral was yesteray and I am a little bit still affected by it," I told him quietly.

"I'm so sorry." He sounded sorry.

"It's alright." I smiled, reassuring him.

"Hey, I have an idea! How about I tell you a ghost story!?" He sounded excited.

"What kind?" I inquired.

"One about Quileute legends." He smiled.

"Any have to do with the Cullens and why they aren't allowed here?" I blurted out. I tried to hide it with a cough, but it was too late. The words were out.

"The Cullens? Oh, Sam, the oldest looking one back at the fire pit, said something about them. So did my dad, but I think he's crazy." Jacob laughed.

"Well, will you tell the story anyway." I batted my eyelashes at him, my pathetic attempt at flirting.

"Um.. well, okay." He looked flustered.

"Well, here it goes. This is all what my dad told me. So, uh, where to start. Well, let's start at the beginning." He started his story.

"Did you know that the Quileutes descended from the children of the moon? Werewolves, you would call them. There was known to be enemies of the werewolves." He told me.

"Werewolves have enemies?" I asked, interested.

"Only one," said Jacob.

I was about to ask him another question as to why this had to do with the Cullens, but he continued.

"So, werewolves only have one enemy. That's where the _cold ones _come in. The cold ones are known to be the most deadliest creatures on the face of the planet. That's why we are enemies. We rival for the most deadly. My great grandfather, the chief, found them hunting on our lands on day back in the 1930's. They claimed to be something different, so, we made a treaty with them. If they promised to stay off Quileute lands, then we wouldn't expose what they were to the pale faces." He went on.

"So, the Cullens are like the cold ones your father met with?" I probed.

"No, they're the _same ones_." He told me with an edge to his voice.

"What exactly... are the cold ones?" I asked with a slight fear to my voice.

"Blood drinkers. Your kind would call them vampires." His tone was flat.

"So the Cullens are the ones that met with your great grandfather?" I asked.

"Yes. But they aren't supposed to be dangerous. They said they only drink the blood of animals." He smiled at me.

I stared at him. So, _that_ explains why Edward licked my neck when I started bleeding! It really made sense. But, I couldn't go around pointing fingers. Obviously, this secret of theirs was big. And if they found out I knew, then I could be killed, or worse. I needed to know for sure if what Jacob was saying was actually true.

"So, they aren't dangerous?" I asked.

"Well, they aren't supposed to be dangerous," he said quietly.

We finished the conversation like that. Talking about the cold ones and about the treaty they set up with them. So my earlier conclusion was true. Edward was a vampire, at least I think he was.

He walked me back to my beetle shortly after that. We departed by saying goodbye and hugging eachother. Jacob was a really cool person to talk to. I would have to come down here and see him again.

That night, in my dream, Alexander was running towards me, pulling my hand.

"Come on, Bella! We have to go now!" He sounded hysterical.

"What? What's going on?" I asked him.

"We have to get away, before you get killed!" he screeched.

"Killed?" I looked in the other direction to see Edward Cullen, sitting in the shadows, beckoning me forward. I took a step in his direction. Edward smiled.

* * *

_AN: Review darlings!!! Next update may be on Tuesday or Wednesday._


	8. Truth

_Disclaimer_: As much as I'd love to own these characters, they are the works of Stephenie Meyer, except Alexander, he's mine.

**Chapter Eight: Truth**

I woke up screaming. It wasn't because I was scared. It was because I felt someone close to me. Like some mysterious presence was right in my face, mocking me somehow. Maybe it was Alexander, watching over me as I slept. He was such a good friend.

I pulled myself out of bed to get ready for school. Charlie already left, so I didn't have to face him with his warnings. Not that they were bad, just that I had heard them before.

I wore a blue blouse that I thought was rather pretty on me, and a pair of blue jeans. I looked pretty simple, but it was good enough for today, and tonight, when I went to Port Angeles.

I walked downstairs to make myself some food. I walked outside after grabbing my school bag and dance bag. I pulled out in my beetle and drove to school.

When I arrived, Jessica came running up to me, giddy and excited looking.

"Bella! I thought I'd tell you right now instead of later. Mike kissed me! Can you believe it? I was just on a date with him in town and he just randomly did it! Jessica was bubbly and practically screeching in my ear, she was so loud.

"Wow! That's great, Jess!" I faked enthusiasm.

"Oh, yeah. I also meant to tell you that me and Angela are going to pick you up at about 5:00 today. Is that okay?" she asked.

"Sure." I muttered.

"Oh, excellent! Well, okay. I will see you at lunch later." She smiled.

"See ya." I told her quietly.

She ran off towards that one bitchy girl that was at La Push. The one that was the hotel owner's daughter. I learned, from Jessica's loud mouth, that her name was Lauren. She wasn't that pretty, unless you considered being orange and fake beautiful. She gave me a smirk and payed attention to Jessica again. Well, not everyone was nice.

I walked off to first period. Earlier on in the day, I noticed Edward was not here again. I certainly hoped this was his last day being absent. There was a reason why he was always absent on sunny days. For all I knew, he would get burned by the sun.

Something was telling me that Edward was the type of vampire that didn't burn in the sun, actually showed up in mirrors, didn't have fangs, didn't turn into a bat, and didn't try to stay resistant to garlic. Those were myths. If vampires were actually real, I thought it would be more realistic more than fantasy.

I tried to figure out what vampires, possibly like Edward, could be like. They'd be cold and hard, like Edward. They'd be fast, also like Edward. They would have different colored eyes, as well as changing eyes, from color to color. They'd have inhuman strength. That sounds more realistic than the myths on vampires I've been hearing on television and the internet.

Most of my morning was spent thinking about what I knew about Edward. I found myself falling a few times out of such thoughts. Yes, I was definitely lost in thinking.

Jessica and Angela met me at lunchtime, and we sat down at our normal table. Mike was staring at me, as well as Eric and Tyler. They were giving me a knowing and blaming look.

"What?" I asked.

"Why are you dating Edward Cullen?" asked Mike, his tone fueled with rage. Much to Jessica's displeasure.

I was confused.

"I'm not going out with Edward..?" I told them. It sounded like a question.

"Everyone says you are.." trailed Eric.

"Well, I'm not." I told them, my tone final.

I looked at Lauren and she had a huge smirk on her face, giving away that she started the "rumor" about me. Some rumor. She could've done better. If she was going to start rumors about me, she should at least cover up that she did it.

That made me irate. Could she honestly be so pathetic as in to make some silly rumor about me that didn't even seem so bad? Or did she just get enjoyment out of my anger? That thought was hilarious and irritating.

"Hey, Lauren. No, your little rumor is not true. It is quite shameful of you to come up a rumor _that_ pathetic. Well, at least your rumors describe you: pathetic." I told her, confidently.

Her jaw dropped. I don't think I'd ever said anything like that before. Maybe it was just out of defending Edward. Haha, I got defensive over something I didn't even own. But the look on her face was priceless. It seemed the bitch just got bitched out. I laughed, as well as anyone who was in hearing distance. Lauren's face turned red as a tomato, one that would put my blush to shame.

She stood up and walked off, bumping into me in the process. I was not going to stand for that.

"You should watch where you're going. If you layed off the alcohol, then maybe you would've walked straight." I said a little bit louder.

Her face was as red at a brick wall. I smiled mockingly.

She turned around and stomped off, like the child she was. More people heard what I said and were howling at my words. I smiled just a little bit.

I sat back down at the table and Angela was laughing so hard I thought she would burst. Jessica was staring at me open-mouthed. I could tell she was trying to hide her laughter behind shock, maybe out of the courtesy of her friend.

"Nice one, Bella! Someone finally put her in her place after the way she's been acting!" Angela giggled.

"Thank you." I smiled at her. Jessica was still staring at me, but ignored the recent verbal attack and changed the subject.

"So Bella, I mean, _are _you? I know you said that you weren't, but I am curious. Were you just saying no to keep it a secret? Or what?" Jessica asked, sounding enthused.

"No, I am not dating him. He is just going to be my dance partner next weekend." I told her.

"Still! That's beyond! No one had ever gotten Edward to do anything that didn't involve his family. And you said he asked you!" She was nearly screaming.

"I know, but I think he was just being polite. He seems like that kind of person, and everyone knows about Alexander," I winced, "So, maybe he was just cutting me a break."

"Yes, I know, but for him to go out of his way to help you, of all people. He has never done anything like that before." She told me, eagerly.

I did admit that Edward treated me over other students, besides his family, but I didn't think it was anything more. Even though my feelings for him were very deep already, I had no idea whether Edward had the same feelings for me. Oh, how I wished he did, regardless of what he was.

"If he liked me, I would know about it by now." I told her quietly.

"You never know." She winked.

She didn't try to continue the conversation, for which I was grateful. I needed some time to think about what she just said. What if he did like me like I liked him? I would be enthused, I know. How could I be with someone of a different species, well sort of.

Lunch ended and the rest of the day was quite boring.

After school, Jessica followed me to my house so I could drop my truck off and leave a note for Charlie.

_Dear Dad, went with Jess and Ang to Port Angeles so we could buy some dresses. I won't be home for dinner. Don't worry about me, but I left some supplies for cold cut sandwiches on the top shelf of the refrigerator. See you later, Bella._

_P.S. I won't be out too late. :)_

I left the note on the counter for him to see when he got home. I hopped into Jessica's SUV, and we were off.

The first store we tried was a department store called Ame's. There was not many dresses there, but it was a start. There were other shops besides this one, so we didn't worry too much.

Jessica was trying on a blue dress. She was debating on that one and the black one she tried on earlier. The blue one was electric colored, a little shorter than the knee, and spaghetti strapped. The black one was long and elegant looking, strapless, which was ruffled at the midriff. I liked the black one better, but Jessica seemed to like the blue one. I suggested the black one for her, but she protested that the blue one was better. It did not look flattering on her. I didn't want to tell her this, because I didn't want to be on her bad side.

Angela had on a champagne colored evening gown. It really fit with her tall figure, and her black hair.

"Bella? Do you think this looks good?" asked Angela.

"Yes, it really fits your tall figure and your black hair." I told her, speaking my thoughts, the last part anyway.

Jessica smirked at me, like she didn't think the same thing as me.

I was looking around for dance dresses, but found none. They were all long and elegant. I needed a dress that was shorter and more flow-y. Ame's wasn't a good department store to find these dresses.

Angela ended up buying the champagne dress, along with a silver choker, and silver flats, for the dress already covered her feet. Jessica ended up buying the blue dress. I didn't know why, but she insisted that it matched her eyes.

_And also makes you look huge,_ I thought.

We headed off to another dress shop, which looked pretty promising. We stopped inside and I bought a midnight blue spaghetti strapped dress. It had rhinestones in the front and it skirted to about my knee. Perfect. I bought some gold shoes to go with it, and a golden colored necklace.

Angela and Jessica were looking at other things, like flowers and stuff. They wanted to go to a store that sold antiques. We started to walk there, but then I just remembered that I wanted to go to the bookshop to get some books to keep me busy.

I told Angela and Jess this, and Jessica told me where the bookshop was.

I told them I would meet them at the restaurant we were going to that night, and started to walk in the direction that Jessica had told me the bookshop was in.

By the time I reached the bookshop, it was 30 minutes later, and getting dark. I walked inside the bookshop to see an old, grey haired lady. It seemed like no one really came into the store. All the books looked uninteresting and inexpensive. I left the bookshop as quickly as I entered it. Now, I only had one problem.

I was lost.

I started by trying to go back the way I came, but that only made me more missing than before. I walked up a few streets, but none of the shops looked familiar.

I figured if I just kept walking from place to place, I would eventually find a store that looked familiar, or better, Jessica and Angela.

I had been walking for 30 minutes, and much to no avail, was still lost. I decided to go down an alley way to find a better route back. I looked down the closest alley and was about to walk down it but I saw four men loitering there, and drinking.

They spotted me before I had a chance to get away. But, much to my luck, they didn't follow me. Yet.

I started to walk faster just in case they did decide to follow me. I passed shops and shops looking for a spark of something familiar. I started to panic, thinking I would never find my way back.

It was more vacant here than anywhere else I had ever been in my life. Now, my main priority was to find a populated area so I could call Jessica.

I looked through alley way to alley way. What I saw at the other end was either dead ends or other vacant areas.

I turned around once to see if I could see anyone, and saw two of the four men that were drinking. They were looking right at me and following me. They had dark, evil looks on their faces. It was almost as if they were possessed. Their looks gave me chills and made me feel so eerie.

I started to walk even faster, bag dangling, trying not to trip. That was the last thing I wanted to happen. I made sure I had my pepper spray in my purse. Good, it was there.

I started to look for some more alley ways with people present. There were none. Occasionally, I would look behind me to see if the men were still following me. They were.

I looked down one alley way to see people and cars going by. I sighed in relief and started down the alley way. Right before I got to the end, though, the other two drunk men came from around the corner. They smiled viciously at me. I backed up towards the other side of the alley way, just to see the men that were following me, black eyes staring down at me, bottle of vodka in the hand of the one in a trench coat.

I tried to run away from them, but they were too fast for me. They caught me and pushed me against the wall.

"And where might you be going, precious?" The one in the trench coat asked me in a poor seductive voice.

My throat closed, and my voice caught in my throat, unable to escape.

"No answer, eh? Well, we like girls who have loud voices. What do you say, guys? Should we make this girl scream? Show her what we're made of?" The trench coated guy asked his friends.

His response was a chorus of laughing and yeses. I gulped.

Two of the other guys, one that looked like a farmer, and the other looking like he hadn't shaved in months, pinned me against the wall. The trench coated one started to touch me through my clothing, groping my arms, my neck, my breasts, and some other areas of my anatomy that I was more innocent about. The trench coated guy started to kiss my neck, leaving slobbery kisses against my throat. He smelled greatly of marijuana an liquor. He started to push up my blouse and grope my breasts through my bra. I whimpered, much like a puppy being kicked.

"So she can make noises!" shouted trench coat guy.

I whimpered again.

"Not good enough, precious, we wanna hear you scream!" he reprimanded.

He took off my shirt and my bra, so I was left in the open. I felt so violated, like my innocence was being taken away, and not even with my consent. He grabbed my breasts and started touch them in ways I didn't enjoy. While he was doing this, he unbuttoned my pants and I was left standing there in my panties. He started to pull on them, just as he was unbuttoning his pants. I knew clearly what he wanted to do. I had never faced anything like this in Phoenix, and I was truly terrified. As one of the guys was distracted, I pulled out my pepper spray and shot the trench guy in the eye. He went staggering back, but it was not enough to totally disorient him. He looked up at me with one of the scariest looks on a human face I had ever seen.

"Stupid bitch! You're going to pay for that!" he yelled just as he delivered a painful blow to stomach. I doubled over in pain, whimpering and grunting loudly. One of the guys that was pinning me down punched me directly in the face. The other guy that stood in the back watching came up to me and threw me on the ground. All four men started to kick me with painful hits. I would surely bruise, and maybe be unable to move around for the next few days, if I even came to see that time of day. After a series of punching and kicking me, they quit. They were laughing at my open and wounded figure. I was sobbing, for the pain was excruciating. I've never felt such pain. Why me? What did I do?

They left me there, as well as my clothes and other belongings. I slowly and painfully reached for my clothes and slipped them on. If anyone found me, I wouldn't want them to find me nude. I couldn't make myself move just yet, I was in too much pain.

I was crying and sobbing for what felt like hours, when I heard someone coming down the alley way, at a fast speed.

"Bella!?" The voice was frantic. I couldn't look up, afraid of being hurt again.

"Oh my God, what happened to you?" The voice beseeched again.

I looked up to see Edward's tall frame crouched over, a look of concern on his face. His sat me up, looking me over, possibly for bruises or other injuries. Or, he could be trying to figure out what happened to me.

"Bella? Please answer me! I need you to answer me! Please, Bella!" He voice was edging on hysteria.

"Edward?" I croaked.

"Oh, thank God." he muttered.

"What are you doing here, it's dangerous." I told him.

"I could say the same thing. What were you doing out here anyway?" He looked angry.

"I got lost." I admitted.

"Well, you certainly got in enough trouble for one night. Come on, let's go. I need to take you to a hospital to make sure you are okay." He told me.

"Okay," I mumbled.

He picked me up and carried me like a small child. His touch was gentle but firm. I leaned my head against his shoulder as he swiftly glided towards his car. He put me in the passenger seat, and pulled out a blanket he had in the back, draping it over me.

He started the car and started to drive off towards the hospital.

"Oh, Jessica and Angela! I bet they are looking for me. I was supposed to meet them." I told him.

"Where are they meeting you at?" he probed.

"La Bella Italia." I uttered.

"Okay, I will take you there so they know you are here with me," he told me.

He drove to the restaurant and we saw Jessica and Angela waiting outside. Edward pulled up beside the restaurant and rolled down his window. Jessica and Angela looked at his Volvo and their eyes widened in shock and surprise.

"Excuse me, would you mind if I took Bella to the hospital? I found her a few minutes ago and she had some injuried, and I just want to make sure she is well. You wouldn't mind, would you?" he asked politely.

Both Jessica and Angela shook their heads while looking at me and my injuries.

"I hope you feel better Bella!" Angela honestly looked worried.

"Um.. Okay. Bye, Bella." She said while eyeing Edward, not looking like she cared about me at all.

Edward took off in the Volvo, but said nothing. I closed my eyes and waited for the pain to go away, or at least numb a little bit.

"Okay, Bella. What exactly happened to you? I want to know what those men did to you." He pleaded.

"I don't know if I should say anything.." I went on before he interrupted me.

"Bella, please. I need to know this so I can tell my father so he can help you." He sounded so concerned.

"Um, o-okay." I told him the story of how I got lost, and how the men found me and started to touch me. I told him about the pepper spray and how after I sprayed the one guy, they beat me up and left me, undressed.

By the time I was done, I noticed Edward's jaw was clenched, his hands were gripping the steering wheel with great strength, his eyes were black again. I guess you could expect that out of a vampire, them trying to control their temper, if they had one.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I should've got there sooner." He told me sadly, yet somewhat angrily.

"Why would you be sorry? You weren't apart of this. And, how did you know where I was anyway?" I inquired.

"I saw your face in his min-." He cut himself off.

"You saw my face in his what?" I asked.

"Nothing, never mind. Forget what I said, please Bella. Please." He seemed truly terrified of something.

I let it go. Obviously, he was hiding this from me. Maybe vampires like him were not only amplified in senses, maybe they were also amplified in select things. He seemed like he was going to say mind. Maybe, he was a mind reader? That would explain a lot.

"Fine." I said sourly. He relaxed.

He drove me all the way to the hospital without another word. When we pulled up, he parked his car and came over to the other side to retrieve me. He picked me up in his cold arms and carried me inside the hospital doors to the front desk.

"Oh my. What happened here?" The lady asked.

"She got into a little bit of trouble up in Port Angeles. Can I please see my father, Dr. Cullen? I'm his son." He told her.

Her eyes glazed over in awe, as if she was entranced by Edward's beauty, like I was.

"Of course, dear." She told him sincerely.

He nodded and walked down a hallway to what I supposed was his father's office. He walked inside an average sized office with a painting on the wall that looked pretty simple. It was an oil painting. Dr. Carlisle looked like Edward, gold eyes, pale skin, absolutely beautiful. Yes, a vampire like Edward.

"Hello, Edward. How can I help you and miss.." he trailed off, not knowing my name.

"Carlisle, this is Bella Swan, the girl who I am dancing with this weekend." He told his father.

"Oh, yes. Hello, Bella. Is there something I could do for you two?" he asked.

"Bella is pretty bruised up and looks as if she is in a lot of pain. Can you please check up on her? To make sure she is okay?" he asked sadly.

"It would be my pleasure." Carlisle said happily.

He led us to one of the hospital rooms and let me lay down on a paper covered hospital bed. Edward backed away and stood against the wall. He looked like he was longing to come back over to me. But, he just stood there, watching me.

Dr. Cullen started to check me out, making sure I was alright.

"Well, you seem to have some bruises, and possible a sprained ankle. But, I will just have to x-ray it to make sure." He told me.

He started to x-ray my ankle and left the room saying he would be right back with my results. I looked back at Edward. He stood unmoving, staring at me.

Before I had the chance to speak to him, Dr. Cullen walked back into the room with the results.

"Well, it seems you do have a sprained ankle, but in a week, you should be able to walk on it a little bit." He told me.

"A week!? I have to get well in about five days or I can't dance at the hotel this weekend!" I protested.

"I don't think you will be able to dance this weekend, due to your injury. But, let me get you a wrap and an ankle brace." He left the room again.

I sighed, "I guess that means we won't be able to dance together this weekend." I told Edward.

"That's fine, I suppose. I was going to ask you if you wanted to skip the hotel and just go somewhere to hang out that day." He smiled sheepishly.

"I'm okay with that." I told him.

"Okay, then. It's all settled." I thought I heard him say, "you really should stay away from me..," but I ignored it.

Dr. Cullen came back in and started to wrap my ankle up, making it extra tight. I smiled at him in appreciation. But, since I couldn't move around, Dr. Cullen gave me crutches. I took them gratefully and started to limp out of the room with Edward hot on my tail. I said a thank you to Dr. Cullen and walked out quietly.

Edward led me to his car and opened the door for me. He helped me in the car then got into his side.

"So, Edward, you saw my face in his what?" I probed him once more on the subject.

"I told you to forget about it!" he said rather loudly.

"His mind? You saw my face in his mind?" I inquired.

He stared right at me with a look of disbelief, horror, confusion, shock, and anger.

"How did you know about that?" he growled.

"You almost said it yourself." I told him.

"Yes, but what makes you think that's what I meant?" he questioned.

"Well, what else would it mean? I already have a theory on you." I told him, regretting the words. But it was too late to take them back.

"What do you mean you have a theory on me?" he asked, panicked.

"I know what you are." I told him simply.

He was quiet. His sped up his driving, which was now to 110 mph, his jaw clenched, his knuckles tightened, and his whole frame went rigid. He looked like he was made of stone. He was gorgeous.

"Why don't you tell me what you think I am." He said, his voice wavering on little control.

"Well, I'll explain how I found out. It all started at the beach, La Push. I met up with some of the Quileute tribe and we started talking. This was the day after Alexander's funeral, so I was very sad that day. Jacob Black, one of the Quileute's, wanted to make me feel better, so he started to tell me some ghost stories. There was one.." I trailed off.

"And?" he asked quietly.

"About vampires." I squeaked.

"And you automatically thought of me?" he challenged.

"No, he mentioned your family. He said that you guys lived here long ago, and now that you live here again. Jacob didn't think much of it. He thought it was a made up story. He didn't think it was real. He also said that you were not dangerous." I said, defending Jacob a little.

"The Blacks have a long memory." He mumbled, mostly to himself.

"But, I thought about it for a little while, and.." I went on.

"And what?" he asked.

"I decided that it didn't matter anymore." I told him my ultimatum.

"It doesn't.. matter!?" he asked, confused and shocked.

"No, it doesn't matter to me what you are." I told him sheepishly.

"It doesn't matter to you if I am not human, if I am a monster!" he started to yell.

"Shh, no. It's already too late, so no, it doesn't matter." I said quietly.

He said nothing. He was fuming silently. I thought he was going to break the steering wheel his hands were clenched so tightly.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked him, hoping he wasn't.

"Yes." He growled.

I didn't say anything else the whole rest of the way back to my house. He didn't say anything either. He was still debating things in his mind, at least I thought.

"Bella?" he whispered.

"..Yes?" I answered him.

"I'm sorry I growled at you. And, I'm sorry you had to find out that way. I wanted to tell you myself." He muttered.

"Tell me what?" I asked.

"What I am. Yes, you are right. I am a vampire." He said so quietly I almost didn't hear him.

"But, not dangerous?" I asked.

"No, we are still dangerous. But, we try really hard not to be. For one, allowing myself to be alone with you is dangerous. A mistake." He told me.

"This is a mistake?" I asked him, the tears starting to form in my eyes.

"Yes." He said.

One of the traitor tears fell over. He hadn't noticed yet, but I tried to wipe them away before he could see them. See how much I cared for him, no matter what he was.

"Are you crying?" he probed.

"No." I sniffled.

He lifted his hand to my face and stroke the tears away. I looked over at him to see a tender look on his beautiful face. He looked like he would be crying too. He continued to stroke my cheek in a soothing manner, until I stopped crying. He pulled his hand away and smiled at me. He chuckled.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"Um, your father is on the verge of coming and looking for you. I think you better go inside." He smiled.

"Okay." I started to get out of the car, but Edward was already there, lifting me in his arms, assisting me to the door.

"Thank you." I said earnestly. He smiled in reply. He stood there to make sure I was okay carrying my bag and purse along with my crutches. He smiled again.

"Sleep well tonight, Bella." He said as he walked back to his car. His musical voice sent me into a dazed state. I limped inside my house as his car pulled away. I looked up to see Charlie sitting in the living room watching the game.

"Hey, Bella. What happened?" he asked me.

"I fell down and Jessica and Angela took me to the hospital." I lied.

"And how did you pay for it?" he inquired.

"The doctor that helped me was Dr. Cullen. He didn't charge me anything, for which I was grateful." I lied again. I hated lying to him. But, better lying to him than telling him about the almost rape and Edward Cullen.

He bought by lie surprisingly.

"You don't need to make dinner, Bella. I already had pizza." He said, burping. I peered around his shoulder to see a half empty pizza box.

"I think I am going to bed. I don't need help, I think I got these down.." I glanced down at the crutches and smiled.

"Well, okay. Goodnight Bella." He said.

"Night, Dad." I mumbled.

I made my way up the stairs and collapsed on my bed, falling asleep quickly. I knew one thing for certain. I loved Edward Cullen. Unconditionally, and heartbreakingly in love with him, despite his dark nature. He was the one I wanted.

* * *

_AN: I don't like this chapter very much. I didn't like writing Port Angeles. Sorry the update took so long!! The next one will probably be this weekend. Review everyone!! I would love to hear some suggestions so I know how you would like it to progress. I AM making this up as I go along. :D Hehe. REVIEWWWW!!!!_


	9. Friends

_Disclaimer_: As much as I'd love to own these characters, they are the works of Stephenie Meyer, except Alexander, he's mine.

**Chapter Nine: Friends**

My dream that night was strange.

Alexander was the one that starred in my dream that night, instead of Edward. Usually it was Edward, with brief shots of Alexander and I dancing. But tonight, Alexander came to me in my dreams. He said the same things he said in the cemetary on the day of his funeral, but also included new information.

_"Bella?" whispered a voice._

_"Alex?" I murmered._

_"Are you sleeping, Bella?" Alexander questioned me._

_"I think so, why?" I inquired, curious._

_"Good. Please, you must stay asleep. I need to tell you something." Alexander pleaded with me._

_"Okay. And, what is it?" I asked._

_"It's Edward.." he mumbled sadly._

_"And what about him?" I asked, nervous._

_"He's not safe." Alexander told me._

_"Edward mentioned that himself." I told him._

_"No, Bella. You don't understand. Edward is not good for you. You need to run away from him, now!" His voice rose louder._

_"But, I love him!" I replied._

_"That's no excuse, Bella. I know I said I wanted you to be happy, but now I am starting to realize. You will end up dying sooner or later if you are not careful. You should go back to Phoenix, with Renee. Staying here will only cause you trouble!" he warned._

_"Alex, I am staying. I know you love me, and I do love you too, but not the same way. I know you are trying to protect me, but don't you want to see me happy?" I asked him._

_"It's not that I don't want to see you happy, Bella! I want to see you _so_ happy. Even if it's not with me. But, this is dangerous! Edward thirsts for you! I mean, over the top! That is one of the main reasons he is around you! To take in the scent of your blood. But, Bella, his attraction to you is nothing normal. Your blood sings to him! He has trouble controlling his thirst around you. Trust me, Bella! He is a sick boy." Alexander lectured._

_"That still doesn't change the way I feel, Alex. I am already in too deep to change my mind. Although Edward has a strange attraction to my blood, I know there is something other than that. There is something there, a feeling." I replied._

_"That's also a problem! The boy has already taken a liking to you. Once he falls for you, he _won't_ leave you alone. That's how vampires are. Once they meet their "mate," they follow them for eternity. That's what it will be like for Edward, he will follow you for eternity. I wouldn't be surprised if he is stalking you right now! Watching over you as you sleep, following you home from school, standing in the shadows watching you, craving you-" he went on before I interrupted._

_"Stop! I don't care about all of that!" I told him._

_"You.. don't CARE? How could you not? His behavior is disgusting! His soon to be love for you will be an all-consuming, crushing love, that no force on the Earth would be able to tame it!" Alexander told me, sullenly._

_"I can't do anything about it now. It's too late." I said._

_"I am just looking out for you, Bella. Watching over you. I guess you could call me your Guardian Angel. That's what I am, an angel. I promise I will help you any way I can. I will not let you get hurt over some sick boy." Alexander vowed._

_"I don't really think there is a need, but thank you. I really appreciate it." I told him. It was the first time I really looked over at him. He looked even better as an angel. His black hair shined with all it's strength. His green eyes sparkled in the white light. His skin turned white, like the bed we were laying on. He looked like an angel. He smiled at me, angelically. I couldn't deny the small, white wings shaping themselves out of his back. He was simply gorgeous. Breathtaking._

_He told me he was going to be my Guardian Angel. I rather liked that. He would still somewhat be in my life. He would watch over me and protect me from danger. And, if he came to me in my dreams every night, I would have something to look forward to when I went to sleep._

_"Well, Bella, I need to go back to the graces of Heaven. You would like it here, Bella. It's beautiful. Perfect. I will always be watching over you, and warning you, just in case you change your mind. I won't tell you what to do. I won't deny you your happiness." Alexander said. _

That was all I remembered from my dream.

I limped out of bed, crutches in hand, and made my way towards the bathroom so I could take a shower and have my human minute.

I must admit, showering in a brace was hard work. My shower was a total fail.

I had to hold me braced ankle outside of the shower curtain. I was balancing myself on one foot, holding myself up with one hand. It was working for quite awhile, until I had to do my hair. I squirted out the shampoo on my hair and massaged it in with one hand. When I was finished with that I did the same thing with conditioner. Once that was out, my hand slipped from its grip on the wall, and I went crashing down. I lended on my thigh, making a WHAM sound. It hurt terribly.

"Ow!" I yelped.

"Bella? Are you alright in there?"

It was Charlie.

"Yes, dad, I am fine." I reassured him.

"Well, I am going to work now. Do you need a ride to school?" he asked.

"No, I will just call Jessica and have her take me." I told him.

"Well, okay. Have a good day at school, Bells." He told me.

"Bye, dad." I mumbled.

I finished my shower unsuccessfully. I probably left half of the conditioner in my hair and left myself with ten or so bruises. I hopped out on my good leg and limped back to my room. I put on a white t-shirt and plaid sweatpants. They wouldn't yell at me if I had a sprained ankle and I wore something comfortable. They couldn't. I dried my hair and found out I didn't leave any conditioner in, much to my relief.

I started my journey down the stairs, falling once again. I giggled at my bad luck.

I grabbed my school bag and made my way to the kitchen. I grabbed a granola bar and started to eat it.

_Knock knock knock._

I jumped in surprise. Who would be coming to my door this early? I limped over to the door, and opened it.

There stood Edward Cullen, looking down on me, smirking.

"Um, what are you doing here?" I questioned him.

"Taking you to school." He smiled.

"Why?" I asked stupidly.

"Well, I certainly was not going to let you drive to school with a sprained ankle. Come on, I will drive you." He smiled again.

"Um, alright." I said quietly.

I followed him to the silver Volvo. He opened the passenger side for me, and helped me in. With a "thanks" from me, he closed the door and blurred to the other side before I turned my head.

He entered the driver's side and started the car. He pulled out of the driveway and sped down the road.

"You're not scared?" he asked all of a sudden. I jumped, he laughed.

"Shouldn't have spoken too soon.." he muttered, chuckling.

"No, it's not that. It's just that you startled me." I told him, looking into his deep topaz gaze.

"Does anything scare you?" he questioned.

"Yes." I said to him.

"Then what is it? It's hard to believe, considering I'm one of the scariest things in existence, that you are scared of anything." His laugh was dark.

"Well, I am afraid you will laugh at me." I shyly explained.

"I won't laugh." He sounded like he meant it.

"Do you promise?" I inquired.

"Yes." He sounded anxious.

"I am afraid of.." I started.

"Afraid of.." he went on, clearly eager for the answer.

"Spiders." I mumbled.

He was silent. He just stared straight ahead, his face indifferent. He clearly looked like he was going into shock or some other medical malfunction for vampires. Could vampires even get a disease? I had no clue.

He started laughing in the middle of my thoughts.

"I thought you said you wouldn't laugh." I reminded him. He immediately stopped laughing as I said that.

"I'm sorry, Bella. It just seems like a typical thing." He said, laughing again.

"What does?" I was confused.

"Being afraid of spiders. They are, what, one inch long? And humans are absolutely terrified of them. It doesn't make any sense." He was thoughtful.

"Well, that's easy for you to say. You don't have to worry about them biting you or trying to kill you." He started laughing again after I said this.

"It's not funny!" My voice was slightly louder."

"Sorry, again." His laugh dimmed to a laugh under his breath.

"It's alright." I reassured him.

"Is there anything else you are scared of? Any other common fears? Or not so common?" he beseeched.

"Not really. Maybe heights or the dark. More common things." I told him.

"Ah, that seems fairly reasonable." He said.

"I suppose." I ended that conversation.

We were quiet for a few minutes. That gave me time to think. Why would he want to know what I am scared of? I am not that interesting.

"What's your favorite color?" he asked, right out of the blue.

"My favorite.. color?" I asked, incredulous.

"Yes." That was all he said.

"Why?" I asked him.

"I thought I would ask some questions today." He smiled.

"Well, okay. Today? My favorite color would probably be.. brown." I stated lamely.

He snorted, "Brown?"

"Sure. Brown is a warm color. Dull, yes, but warm. It makes me feel warm inside, unlike black or grey. It kind of has light to it. Maybe one of the only duller colors that have that to it. Everything that is supposed to be brown, here, isn't. It's all covered in moss and other green blanketing.." I went on.

"You're right. Brown is warm." He smiled at me again.

I just nodded in response, blushing a little. When he looked at me I got really nervous. Maybe it was the effect of Alexander's warning. No, it started happening before that. Is Alexander.. correct? Am I in that much danger?

"What was your childhood like? What were you like as a child and a younger teenager?" he asked some more.

"Well, when I was a little girl I was a ballerina. Only for about three or four years, then I got into ballroom dancing. But, I loved it then. It wasn't as complicated as it is now, more fun. I was very social then, and responsible. I learned to grow up really early in life. When I was nine, I was cooking for my mother. Phil hadn't come into the picture yet, so it was just me and my mom. We did everything together. We went everywhere. She has always been my best friend, besides Alexander. They were the only ones who really understood me. As I started getting older, I became more.. aloof, if you could call it that. I was more into the intellectual world more than the social world. Sure I danced, but I never really talked to people. Alexander would talk to just about anyone; he liked people. I never had many friends, besides my mother and Alexander, but it didn't bother me at all. Actually, I rather preferred it that way, being alone. I never liked being around people. Alexander, I met when I was younger, maybe around seven years old. He was in one of my dance classes, we started talking, and we just clung together like magnets. We've been close from then and until he died. It's really painful to think about him sometimes, after all we have been through.." My eyes started to water at saying this. It was still strange not seeing him every single day.

"Wow, that sounds like a childhood not many children have." He said quietly.

"I suppose." I replied.

"So, Alexander was nothing more than a friend?" he asked even quieter.

"No, it was never that way for him either. Until recently. I don't want to talk about it right now. Maybe later. But, he and I have always been close friends. He never was mean to me. He was a gentleman, well, in public. He was a total goofball when it was just us together. He always made everything about me, I just recently found out." I went on.

"Will you tell how you found out he returned your feelings?" he asked me, eager.

"Maybe in the future. I don't want to talk about it right now." I replied to him, my hair covering my face.

"Alright." He sounded concerned.

"Do you still wish to go with me on Saturday?" he questioned.

"Sure, why? Oh wait! I still have to cancel the hotel. I can't dance with a sprained ankle." I was sad because of this. I really wanted to dance with Edward again.

"Okay, I was just wondering. Oh, and it's alright, we could always dance when you are healed." He flashed his gleaming pearly white teeth at me. Did everything about this man have to be perfect?

"What is your favorite kind of food?" he inquired.

"I'm more of an Italian person. I like to go to Italian restaurants all the time. Even though it's not the actual thing, those kinds of restaurants have good food." I smiled.

"I liked Italian food when I was human." He muttered.

"Well, that's one thing we have in common." I smiled again. He looked over, and he smiled a smile that reflected mine.

That was basically how our day went. He would ask me questions about myself, and I would answer. Sometimes we got to a resolution where what we liked were similar. We both had a strong taste in classical music, along with many other genres, besides country. Edward said he hated country. We also had a similar liking to book genres. He liked the darker poetry, and books. He also liked more classic writers. He said they made their stories more original. I couldn't agree more.

When I was about to open the door to trig, I saw a note on the door that read:

_Class is canceled. Math teacher's meeting. Use the free time you have wisely._

_-Mr. Maysen_

Well, that meant free time for me. I could get caught up on some reading.

I wanted to avoid Jessica and her never ending chatter. I picked a place that she wouldn't stop by at: the library.

I walked in the door to the library to find that it was empty. I sighed in fresh relief. It was a great feeling to avoid Jessica.

I sat down by one of the windows and pulled out Harry Potter from my school bag. I opened to the chapter where Harry and his friends first find the three headed dog, Fluffy. After a few pages, I felt a presence behind me, as if someone was reading over my shoulder. I looked behind me to see Edward Cullen wearing a black trench coat. The coat fit him, dark and mysterious. A perfect look for a vampire.

"Do you mind if I sit down?" His velvet voice purred.

"No, not at all." I said while looking back down, trying to hide my blush.

Why would he skip class just to be here with me? Did he even want to be here? Or did he just have nothing to do? I wanted to believe he came here because he wanted to see me. The thought had me smiling widely, hidden by my hair, so only I would know.

"Harry Potter, huh? I read those books, they are alright." He sighed.

"Oh, I just started reading it about a week or so ago. It's interesting, so far." I muttered.

"You'll really start to enjoy it when you get onto later books." He gleamed.

We talked more about modern books and which ones we enjoyed. Even for modern culture, his taste was still on the dark side. I guess I could expect that, being a vampire and all. Something did tell me that he was a darker person in general, vampire or not. He seemed like he had a difficult past. That thought got me interested enough to ask him.

"How come you seem more of a.. darker person?" I asked him timidly.

"Well, I don't like what I am, so I guess that makes me a darker person, I guess you could say." He looked down.

He tried to get off the subject of him by asking me another question. We continued to converse all throughout the period. He asked about what we hated and what we liked.

"What do you hate, more than anything?" he challenged.

"Well, I hate it when people tell me what to do. Like, how to drive, for example. Even when I already know how to do it. When I was learning to drive, my mother would be so paranoid about it, that she would have to hold on to the side of the car for dear life. It was as if she thought I was going to crash or something." I laughed.

"Well, you must not be a very good driver then." He chuckled.

"Hey! That's not funny!" I giggled along with him.

"I am sorry, but I was just kidding." He smirked, but looked apologetic. I let it go.

When the period ended we walked to lunch together, talking about places I've seen and places that I wanted to see. He seemed unduly interested in what I had to say. A look of pure fascination crossed his featured everytime I talked. It was as if I were giving the information to a test than just telling him answers to his questions. I didn't understand him. He always seemed so bored looking.

We sat down at one of the vacant tables again, talking to each other about flowers and gemstones.

"What is your favorite gemstone?" he asked, a curious look hinting in his eyes.

"Topaz." I said automatically. I blushed deeply at the mistake I made. I knew it was because of his eyes. Before, my favorite gemstone was a ruby. The color of blood._ Could it get any more ironic._

"You're blushing." He observed.

I just looked away, not answering his observation.

"Would you tell me why?" he pleaded.

"The reason my favorite gemstone is topaz is because it is the color of your eyes today. I suppose in about two weeks if you asked me the question again, I would say onyx." I mumbled, my face get hotter and redder.

The look on his face shocked me. He looked like he was about to cry, if he could. He looked utterly touched. He got over the look quickly, and it was replaced by a curious stare again.

"What kind of flowers do you prefer?" I sighed in relief at his question and answered him with the answer daisies.

The rest of the day was discussed over what movies I enjoyed and didn't enjoy, what smelled good and what smelled bad, over clothing and colors that went together, over cars I enjoyed, vacations I've been on, et cetera.

He drove me home that day, asking more questions about me in general.

"Why are you asking all these questions? It's not like I am interesting." I mumbled, heat prickling in my cheeks." I uttered sullenly.

"You fascinate me, Bella. No one has ever really done that before. It's kind of hard to keep me interested." He smiled.

After he said that I felt extremely special. He seemed to like me based on who I was, not what I looked like or what I had. I genuinely enjoyed that. No one has taken that much time to learn about me, mind Alexander. No one I truly liked, as in more than a friend.

He pulled out of the driveway quickly and sped down the street.

I walked inside my house to realize that Charlie was not home. I walked into the kitchen to find a note from Charlie.

_Went to Billy's for dinner. Call if you need something. I love you._

_-Charlie._

Hmm, a house all to myself. I rather liked that. I started to make dinner for myself, a sandwich, and went to go turn on the television. I never watched it much. I was in the middle of watching some lifetime show when the phone rang. I went to answer it.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Bella Swan?" A haughty, yet familiar voice reached the other line.

"Yes, may I ask who is speaking?" I answered.

"This is the owner of the hotel you were supposed to be dancing at this weekend." Her voice was very mean and nasally.

"How may I help you?" I tried hard to be polite.

"I heard you sprained your ankle. My daughter told me in case you were wondering." She sneered.

"Yes, meaning I cannot make the hotel this weekend." I muttered.

"Well, I guess that means you don't get the money we were going to give you! We could always find someone better." She said rudely.

"You do that." I replied.

She hung up.

I went upstairs to do some homework and get ready for bed.

I hopped in the shower and cleaned myself. When I got out I put on pajamas and crawled into bed.

That night I dreamt of Alexander, once again, warning me about Edward. Only this time, Alexander's warnings became reality, in my dream, of course.

* * *

_AN: I am incredibly sorry it took almost two weeks. School has been catching up with me already. So, I may only post on weekends, or days I have off. Please review! I may update faster! Reviews are motivators, they keep me going!!! 333_


	10. Falling: EPOV

_AN: Okay!!! I know I haven't updated for awhile, but I will try to stop taking so long..  
__This will be in EPOV. I feel like I need to do something different._

_Disclaimer_: As much as I'd love to own these characters, they are the works of Stephenie Meyer, except Alexander, he's mine.

**Chapter Ten: Falling  
EPOV**

I have never felt so consumed by anyone in my 100 some years of walking this Earth. She captured me like no other could. It wasn't just her enthralling blood anymore. I could see her as a person. I could see her inner and outer beauty. Her mind was closed off to me. I was partially grateful. Although she had the mind that I wanted, no needed, to know more than anyone's, it was kind of exciting to not know what she was thinking, anticipating her next move.

Besides being interesting, I found her _beautiful._These vulgar excuses for human boys thought differently. All they saw was her beauty. Many called her "hot." I would admit she had a good looking figure, which I caught myself staring at from time to time, but she was so much more than that. They didn't see the depth in her eyes, her natural color and face, her perfect skin. I would give anything to just stroke her skin all day long.

I could just imagine touching her skin, very softly. I couldn't stop the other images from going through my brain. Bella wrapped in my arms, much like she was when we waltzed, me staring into her eyes, trying to find answers. Stroking her face, being as careful as stroking a soap bubble. Her skin felt like silk and cashmere under my fingertips. Soft, but smooth. I could imagine her looking up into my eyes, pleading silently for me to kiss her. What I wouldn't give..

And then she would die, because I couldn't control myself.

I was pulled out of my reverie by Emmett who came down the stairs laughing his booming laugh.

"Hi, Edward!" he boomed.

"Hello, Emmett." I rolled my eyes.

"What was with you? You looked like you were in your own world," he asked, curious.

"I was just being pensive," I said in a monotonous voice, trying to get him to leave me alone.

"Are you thinking about the girl?" Emmett asked, smiling. I looked down.

"Ohhhhh, you were, weren't you? Ooooooooohhhh, Edward's got a crush!" he boomed again.

"It's simply an infatuation, not a crush." I said defensively.

"Edward, it's the same thing." He smiled wider, showing his teeth.

If I had the ability to blush, I would put Bella's blush to shame. My family had no real reason to tease me before, because I wouldn't show any feeling, letting them know I didn't care. Until now, they quit teasing me. The main topic in my family today was my obsession with Bella. They would tease me for following her around all the time, whether it be through peoples' minds or in person. I followed her at first so I could think of ways and pretend that I was killing her. It relieved some of the tension, but only made me feel like I horrific monster all the same. I look back on that, and shook my head in disgust.

True, I had always been the darker one of the family. Isolating myself all the time, being the only single one. I had always rejected everyone's pity for me, especially Esme's. I truly was content with being alone. There were times where I would wish I had someone to confide in, and the feelings would overpower me. Was it envy? Desire? Only Jasper knew this, and he hasn't told anyone, for which I was grateful.

Even Tanya, who's advances were not welcome, I had shown no interest in. She was a seductress in every way, however, I never felt anything more than a friendship towards her. She, regretfully, was not intent on losing. She would try and try again. My feelings never changed. Unfortunately, neither did her's.

Tanya wasn't the only one. Many other women tried to capture me like Bella could. Many tried, but all had failed.

Bella made me curious. I needed to know every single thing about her. So, I asked her questions about herself. She seemed to be more into the books and dancing over anything else. She had an odd taste in music for a teenager. Classical was a large part, as well as softer and alternative rock. She liked more old-fashioned books, with a slight hint of modern. It was a good thing she was somewhat of a teenager.

Then there was Alexander, her dance partner, well, ex-dance partner. Although he was dead, he made me so jealous, possibly more than Mike Newton. When they first came here, I knew that he loved her, even if I couldn't read his thoughts. The look in his eyes were obvious, even if he thought he was hiding it. Oh, it was there. He was so good for Bella, too. Human, warm, exactly what she needed. She didn't deserve someone like me. She was too good for that. However, that never stopped me from spying on her.

Every night she would mumble my name in her sleep, as well as Alexander's. I could understand that. She lost her best friend, and would probably dream about him for some time. I asked Carlisle about this. My thoughts drifted to the time where I had that conversation with him..

_I started pacing outside Carlisle's office impatiently. He knew I was there, but he knew I was still kept by my thoughts. So, he gave me time to figure things out before I spoke with him._

You may come in, Edward, if you wish, _he thought._

_I walked into his office to see my father of some sort standing next to his desk, ready to greet me like a gentleman. I was grateful for Carlisle. He was always so understanding, always so patient. I, however, was completely anxious._

_"You wished to speak with me, Edward?" Carlisle looked at me with open eyes._

_"Yes," I started, "it's about Bella."_

_He stayed quiet, knowing I wasn't near finished._

_"See, you know she just lost her best friend, Alexander? Well, every time I go watch her, she mumbles a mixture of his name and mine. Is dreaming about him just an effect of his death, or would it mean she has feelings for him? Also, what does it mean that she is mumbling my name? Do you think she is having nightmares? Or, do you think that she has actual feelings for me?" I finished finally._

_Carlisle smiled. "It seems you have been doing some thinking, haven't you, Edward?" His grin grew wider._

_"I haven't been able to stop. Ever single thing she does gets to me." I smiled sheepishly._

Wow, I never knew that someone could bring out such feelings in Edward, _Carlisle thought. He tried to hide them, but it was too late. I already heard them._

_"Can we please talk about the issue at hand." I muttered impatiently._

_Carlisle chuckled at my impatience. "Well, Edward, the loss of a close one at her age is very tragic. It would be reasonable for her to dream about him for some time. As for you, she could be dreaming about you for that fact that she may like you. Did she sound frightened when she said your name?"_

_"No," I told him._

_"Then it seems she is not having a nightmare. If she is dreaming about you every night, then there must be some feelings there in her towards you," he uttered to me in an amused voice. He never thought I would find love, after all this time. Now that I had found it, he found it very.. cute._

_I smiled at his words, though. They reassured me immensely. I felt like a human, always searching for reassurance. I chuckled inwardly at the thought._

_"Thank you, Carlisle. That made me feel better." My shoulders relaxed at the fresh relief._

_"Anytime, Edward." _

Carlisle's voice faded as my thoughts came back to the present. So now I knew that her dreams of Alexander were most likely due to his death. Her dreams of me, could be to her affection towards me. I shuddered.

I looked at the clock. It read 7:00. I needed to go pick up Bella. I had a whole new round of questions for her.

I hopped into my car and sped quickly to her house. I pulled into the spot where her dad usually parked. I got out of my car and waited for her to grace me with her presence.

I listened to the inside of the house, to hear her in the kitchen, clanking things around. She kind of seemed to be in a hurry. Was it a hurry to see me? The thought had me smiling.

She ran out the door, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Her appearance stunned me. She was wearing a soft pink tank top with a grey zip-up hoodie. Her white pants fit her perfectly. And her top was short enough so that the bottom of her stomach peeked out, leaving her hip bones exposed. The sight distracted me incredibly. Enough that I didn't see her walk right in front of me.

"Um, Edward?" she asked, confused.

I snapped back to look at her face. "Yes?"

"Are you ready to go?" She giggled while she asked.

I smiled nonchalantly. "Certainly."

I went over and opened the passenger door for her. She thanked me and got into the car. I ran over to the driver's side and sat down and started the engine.

That day I wanted to ask her about people in her life, except Alexander. I didn't want her to hate me.

"Bella? What is your mother like?" I asked her gently.

She smiled widely. It seemed like the subject of her mother appealed to her. I smiled back.

"Well, she is extremely eccentric. She can be unpredictable, and she is very child-like. She looks a lot like me, but I think she is prettier than me, and wiser. She is my best friend." She laughed as the words flowed freely from her mouth. I felt the urge to purr, but I fought it.

"But Alexander will always, always be closer to me than anyone." Her mood suddenly turned sour. I felt torn between the urge to comfort her into a better mood, and the urge to growl in jealousy. I didn't like that she thought about him.

What I found absurd was the fact that she thought her mother to be more beautiful than her. Didn't she see what I saw in her? I guess I already knew my answer from the selflessness in her tone. She was always so selfless. My opposite. She would be so good for me if we formed some kind of relationship. Well, I supposed we were already in some sort of realationship. We were friends, I guessed.

"Did you have many friends down in Phoenix?" I went on.

"Not much. Alexander and my mother were my close friends. Alexander was the only one there that was actually fun to be with. I still can't believe he is gone." I could see tears forming in her eyes. I felt the need to cry right along with her. I couldn't believe that she could bring out such reactions from me.

I tried to change the subject to something more cheery.

"Have you ever had a significant other?" I asked her shyly. Part of me didn't want to know, for if she was more experienced with guys, I would feel a little awkward, having dated no one. The other part of me was eager, to see if she had a past. If she didn't, I would feel so grateful.

"No. I have never been interested in dating. Never." She said with relief, like she was happy as to never having one.

"You have never met someone you wanted? Ever?" I asked her incredulously. Did no one appeal to her?

"Not in Phoenix." She blushed. My throat burnt, but I rejoiced. There was hope that she might have feelings for me. I smiled widely.

If there was ever a chance of me and her dating, I would be the happiest person, well, _being_, on the face of the planet. I would squeeze her forever if she had no other needs, and if I couldn't crush her fragile body. I would hold her and thank her for the love she had planted in me. I would thank her for all the euphoria she gave me. I would never stop thanking her.

We continued talking throughout the day on other people in her life. Family, friends, teachers, people she hated and people she thought were weird. She laughed occasionally, the sound vibrating off of her and the air around us, sinking into the conversation, letting us be at ease. Sporadically, I would join her in her laughter.

After we got back into the car after the day of being together, she smiled at me. I looked over at her, dumbfounded.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked her.

"Nothing, it's just.." she trailed off.

"Yes?" I questioned with impatience.

"It's just that, I had a really good day with you. That's all." She looked away, blushing hotly. Her blush made me feel hot. I never felt it before. Maybe it was a result of my affection.

We drove the rest of the way in silence. I would often look over at her. Admiring her beautiful complexion. She was so incredibly beautiful. I wanted to reach over and touch her soft face. Just one touch.

I pulled into the driveway to her house slowly. I was sad to let her go, but I knew I would be back later that night to watch her. She made no move to leave. So, she didn't want our time to be done either. My stomach flipped in happiness.

"Well, I guess I will see you later, Edward." She smiled at me.

I said nothing as I got out of the car to open her door for her. When she got out, she surprised me by hugging me around the waist. I responded without hesitation. She was so warm. I could feel the heat gathering from her and spreading through me. I wanted to hold her there forever. I wanted to do more. I wanted to take her to my car and hold her all night. I wanted to hold her while she slept. So many things went through my brain at that moment. I knew if I did hold her there, she would freeze. So reluctantly, I let her go.

She beamed up at me.

I responded by gleaming down at her.

"Goodnight, Edward." She said while releasing me and walked into her house.

"I love you, Bella." I muttered in a voice to low for her to hear.

I got in my car. Before starting my car, I thought about what just happened.

The heat from her was starting to fade, but I still felt it. She was so warm and fragrant. It burned my throat but it was bearable. I felt so strange. I had never had a human hug me. I loved the fact that the first person to do it was Bella.

I started my car and drove home.

I turrned off the car and walked inside to face my family. Most of the thoughts were content, besides Rosalie's. Her thoughts were furious.

_How could you Edward!? A HUMAN? Can you be serious? You are such an idiot. If you expose us, I swear to God, Edward.. _her thoughts trailed off into more threats I knew she wouldn't carry out. I knew Rosalie. Everything was about her. I laughed inwardly.

_Hey Edward!_ Alice's thought rejoiced. She knew what happened with Bella and I today, and she couldn't be happier. She always said she loved Bella too, but it was nowhere near how much I loved her. Nothing could compare to how much I loved her.

_HEY LITTLE BRO!!_ Emmett literally screeched in her mind. He was such a happy person, for which I was grateful. He always made the mood lighter around. No one had a brother like I did.

I said hello to the appropriate people in the room, and then rushed up to my room. I went to find something to do for the next few hours until I could go back to Bella's. I decided to play write some music. I had an idea for a song in my head earlier, and I wanted to record the gorgeous music onto paper. I wanted to see what it sounded like in real life.

I got through the whole song without stopping, except for the bridge. I experimented with a few different notes, but nothing seemed right. Right on time, Alice came in and sat down next to me in the middle of the floor where I lay.

"I only saw that I was." She smiled at me. Just then, she started humming a sound that would work perfectly for the bridge of this song.

"Alice! That is perfect!" I hugged my favorite sister while I wrote down the notes.

"You're very welcome. It sounds so much like her." Alice stood up and walked out of the room.

I looked down and read the notes. I still wanted to play them, to see what they sounded like. I ran down to my piano and sat down, staring at the ivory keys. Feeling a little guilty for not playing in so long, I started to play the music.

It sounded better than it did in my head.

Alice was right, it DID sound like her.

_A new song? It's been so long. Such a lovely sound. _Esme's thoughts came sparkling from above. She was so happy that I found love for the first time.

She raced down and stood behind me and watched me play. She sighed in a relaxed state. She put her hands on my shoulders and kissed the top of my head. I felt like such a child when she did that, but I didn't acknowledge it. I was preoccupied.

Alice came in at that time and sat next to me. She smiled up at me, just as grateful as to me finding love. She was just excited to have a new friend to play with, I told myself.

I finished and looked down, my hands in my lap.

"It will be okay, Edward." Esme's voice made me feel a little bit better.

"Thank you." I mumbled.

"She will have to love you back. Any girl would be blind as to not see the catch you are." She giggled in her mind as she said this.

I chuckled at the thought. I was sort of grateful for my inhuman beauty. I would use anything I could to get Bella to love me back, even if she didn't deserve someone like me.

"Thanks, again, Mom." I told her. I knew she loved it when I called her Mom.

"You're welcome, Edward." She smiled and kissed my head again.

It was getting dark by the time that I was finished playing the piano. It was time to go over Bella's and watch over her. Not spying, I told myself to make it seem like what I was doing was not bad.

I hung in her tree and watched her through her window, waiting for her to go to sleep. She seemed to be working on some homework. I continued to watch her through the window.

I watched for about three hours, and finally, she fell asleep.

I climbed into her window and sat down in the rocking chair across the room, looking at her sleeping form.

I knew what I was doing was wrong. How could something so wrong bring me so much happiness? I have never felt so happy in all of my life. I should be making myself miserable. I should be eradicating myself from her life. I should be..

"Edward." Her voice lifted me from my misery. I felt really hot again.

I pushed my worries aside, and let myself be happy.

* * *

_AN: Finally! Three-four weeks is entirely too long of a time to not update! Tell me how I did on Edward. I don't like it so much. I think I do Bella better. REVIEW!!! :D_


	11. In Depth

_AN: There is a small Harry Potter spoiler in here. If you have not read Harry Potter and you are going to, I suggest you read wisely. (:_

_Disclaimer_: As much as I'd love to own these characters, they are the works of Stephenie Meyer, except Alexander, he's mine.

**Chapter Eleven: In Depth**

The rest of the week passed by like a blur, what with Edward's endless questions on my life. The look on his face was hard to avoid whenever I was answering his interrogations. The look of utter fascination took place on that God-like face of his. It was rather cute.

I remembered that tomorrow we were supposed to go to the hotel ball, but I also remembered I had a sprained ankle. I was supposed to be with Edward. I swallowed. I was getting nervous about being alone with him.

That night I continued to read Harry Potter. It was getting quite ironic, hitting the climax where Professor Quirrell revealed himself as being the holder of what was remaining of Lord Voldemort.

I was totally engorged into the story that I almost didn't hear the tap on my window. Once I heard the tap I stood up and hobbled over to my window. There was nothing there, except a lone note taped on the outside.

I was feeling extremely curious and frightened at the same time.

I opened my window and pulled the note off of the window. I gasped when I read it.

_I know what you are up to. _

There was no signature, no indication of who could possibly stick a note outside my second-story window and get away fast enough so I couldn't discover the culprit.

I stayed up almost the whole night trying to figure out what that could possibly mean.

It seemed as if someone knew I was hanging out with Edward, and that I knew he was a vampire. If no one knew he was a vampire besides me and any other vampire, then it was someone of his species. It absolutely had to be. Unless someone has been profiling me for the past week and neither I nor Edward had known about it. I was pretty sure Edward would know about it, considering he was a mind reader. At least I had somewhat of a verdict.

But, I had no idea if this vampire, or vampires, were dangerous or not. I debated on telling Edward about it. I knew how bad his temper seemed to be. Plus, he was a vampire. I had no idea what he was capable of.

But, then again, it could be no one. It could be just some fool trying to scare me. Trying to pull the "I am spying on you" card. However, what were the chances that someone would tell me that when I did have something to hide. And if anyone knew about it, I could be done for, possibly. They must've had a reason they didn't tell anyone they were vampires.

If there was someone being serious about this, then it must be someone that had a grudge against me or Edward. I was sure that Edward has met many people in his life that held something against him, and they could be finally be taking it out on me and not him.

I didn't seem so sure of the truth anymore. There seemed to be millions of possibilities.

I fell asleep conflicted like that.

My dreams were very unambiguous as well.

Alexander came back to my dreams. His words actually sounded like warnings now, instead of just calm nothings.

_"You are in for some very big surprises, Bella," he started, sounding ashamed._

_"Whatever do you mean?" I questioned, shocked._

_"That note on your window." Alexander looked back up at me._

_"Do you know what that was about?" I asked him._

_"They just said it was workings of Satan himself. They said nothing else." Alexander revealed to me._

_"Who are 'they?'" I probed him, getting more and more abashed the more he spoke._

_"The ones associated with death. You know, demons." Alexander's voice trailed off. I knew then I was starting to wake up, but I saw a mental image of Alexander walking away._

_"Wait! How do they know!" I literally shouted._

I woke up, sitting up quickly. I looked over to see my window open and my curtain rising against the wind. I never did get an answer to my question. What did Alexander mean? Demons are involved with the note on my window? They know? Why would they seek out to possibly harm me?

I didn't acknowledge the questions in my head very soon after that. I was expecting Edward to come and get me. I started to get ready.

I ungracefully made my way to the bathroom to take a shower and clean myself. I shed my clothing off and hopped into the shower, immediately soaking in the hot water. It was extremely soothing, the water working it's way through the muscles in my back. I sighed at it's effects.

I put shampoo in my hair and lathered it up. I quickly washed it out and conditioned my hair. I always loved the way my hair smelled when I used my hair products. It smelled like strawberry, my favorite fruit.

I washed out the remains of the conditioner and washed my body with soap, besides my crippled ankle. The soap smelled of freesia and another flower I couldn't recognize. I loved the smell, very tantalizing.

I washed away the excess products from my body and got out of the shower. I wrapped a towel around my hair and around myself. I debated on what to wear and what to do with my hair. For my hair, I decided to curl it and twist it into a side ponytail that had the curls wrapping around each other. For clothing, I decided on a white blouse matched with a deep green sweater, paired with some white jeans. Since I didn't know where we would be going, I pulled on some boots that I hardly ever wore, watching my bad ankle. I wanted to be prepared for anything, even for something as preposterous as the note from last night.

I really wished I hadn't thought about that, because that brought on a whole new round of worries and insecurities.

I didn't have a lot of time to dwell on those dark thoughts, because the door bell rang. My heart gave a sudden lurch. I had a pretty good idea of who it would be.

I grabbed my crutches and limped down the stairs. I tried to get to the door as quickly as I could. As soon as I reached the door, I opened it faster than I could ever move. And the person standing there confirmed my theory.

Edward looked especially gorgeous today. He had on a pair of blue jeans that fit him _perfectly._ He had on a maroon button up shirt and a dark blue blazer over it. He looked like one of those boarding school students. I had to admit, he would make students at a school like that look like paupers.

"Good morning, Bella." Edward's seductive voice pierced the air, breaking me out of staring at his body. I could tell he knew, because he chuckled.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked. I was grateful that he didn't voice my ogling. I was already embarrassed enough.

"Yes." I smiled at him. I was in a happier mood now that I was with him, note forgotten.

We walked to his shiny silver Volvo, and he opened the passenger side for me. I wasn't used to men opening doors for me, except for Alexander, being the gentleman that he was. Other than Alexander, men basically expected me to serve them. They would have a hard time accepting that if they lived in the early 1900's. I giggled mentally.

I slid in, murmuring a thank you to Edward, and settled in my seat. Out of my peripheral vision he put my crutches on the back. He was already starting the engine when I looked over.

"Where are we going exactly?" I probed him warily.

"Well, it is a surprise. It's a place I like to go, day and night." He looked over at me and smiled suggestively.

"Not one hint?" I looked over at him, teasing him.

"Nope. I want it to be a surprise. I want to see what you look like when you see it." He laughed quietly, seeming to relive a recent memory. I didn't question him on it.

We rode silently for awhile. I was thinking about where we were going for quite awhile. I wondered what it would look like when we got there.

"Is Phoenix really nice?" Edward asked all of a sudden.

"Absolutely." I answered shortly.

"Describe it." Edward practically begged for more. What else did he need to know?

"Well, it's where I have lived most of my life. It's very sunny and hot. I have never seen snow in person until I moved here. There is no snow there. It rains very little, maybe three or four times a year. When it does rain, it really only drizzles. It's also dry, the source of that being the desert. If you would go to the desert, it's absolutely beautiful. I always loved looking at the animals there. There weren't any of the animals that are here down there. For instance, deer. I have never seen so many deer anywhere in all my life! No one really ever wore long-sleeved clothing down there, except when we went to an indoor ice rink." I went on about Phoenix. He seemed to be listening intently.

"I wish I could go there," he stated simply.

"Well then why don't you go there?" I asked him.

"Well, us vampires, we cannot go out in the sunlight. At least, not where anyone can see us. It doesn't hurt us, but it does make us more alien. I suppose I will be showing you that today. Unless you are scared." He looked at me, and immediately knew he was half teasing, half serious.

"Is it dangerous?" I challenged.

"No, it's just overwhelming." He smirked.

"Well, I can't wait to see it." I added some extra enthusiasm to my voice, to show him that I wasn't going anywhere.

"So different.." he trailed off.

"What was that?" I smiled at him, encouraging him to tell me what he meant.

"You are not like others." That was all he said.

I smiled at him. It seemed the both were doing a lot of smiling today. Maybe today was going to be an interesting, but fun day. I smiled wider.

We were silent once again, but it wasn't awkward at all. I rather preferred the silence. It was comforting. I liked that Edward wasn't the type to fill the silence with mindless speaking, like Jessica.

We reached our seemingly strange destination when he stopped the car at the end of a road, with a thick forest spread out ahead. He got out of his car and walked over to my side to open my door. He helped me stand up and gave me my crutches.

"Do you think you will need those? We are hiking through the forest, and I don't want you to fall. Could I possibly carry you? If you wish." It was always about me. He seemed like he really wanted to carry me though. I was willing to oblige. Any excuse to have him holding me.

"No, I don't think I will need the crutches, if you are willing to carry me." I chuckled in amusement.

His face brightened up. He put my crutches in the car, and scooped me up in his arms, being carefully aware of my ankle. He was cold, I was going to admit, but he felt safe. I liked the way he felt while I rested in his arms. He acted as if I was light as a feather. He looked down at me with a smile enlightening his face.

He started to walk through the forest at a fast human pace, keeping me absolutely steady.

"Are you ever going to tell me how old you are?" I asked him. I actually really wanted to know. If he was immortal, I wanted to know how much he has seen in his long life.

"I will. I want to see you reaction to me today. Then I will tell you more." He compromised with me.

"As long as you promise." I muttered.

"I promise." I was shocked that he heard that. I guess that I would have to get used to his extra sensitivity sooner or later.

He started to walk faster, about as fast as a slow human jog. I rested my head against his chest, listening to his breathing. _In, out, in, out._ It seemed like a rhythm that I would dance to. I started to hum a melody along the beat of his breathing. I didn't even realize it until he said something.

"You have such a beautiful voice." He said with emotion. I blushed.

"Thank you." I mumbled and rested my head back on his chest. He sighed.

I continued to hum absentmindedly. I thought I heard an echoing hum above me, but I wasn't quite sure. It could just be my mind playing tricks on me.

After what seemed like awhile, I started to feel him walk slower.

"Do you see the light ahead?" he asked me in a quiet whisper.

"No..?" I asked, partly as a question.

He chuckled, "I should've known. It may be a bit soon for you to see."

"Just a little bit." I retorted softly.

All too soon, he stopped walking. I opened my eyes and raised my head from his chest. I looked at my surroundings, and gasped. We were still in the forest, but at the edge. Just a few feet away was the start of a large field. A circular, flowery meadow. It shined in the sun, and the many species of flowers blew gently in the breeze. I was almost blind-sighted by the beauty of such a place. I now understood why Edward liked it. It had such a relaxing composition to it. I was suddenly curious as to what it looked like at night. I bet it was worth being her for.

Edward cut me out of my thoughts.

"Overwhelming, isn't it?" he whispered, not wanting to ruin the moment.

All I did was nod. There were no words for the beauty that was the meadow.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting in the middle of the array of flowers all alone, no Edward in sight. I started to look for him around. I suddenly saw him in the shadows at the edge of the meadow. He was looking directly at me. If he was correct about the sun, then he must've been preparing for the moment of truth. How climatic.

I continued to look at him. He had his blazer and maroon top open, showing his marble chest and abdomen. I had never seen anything more beautiful in all of my life. Suddenly, Edward stepped out into the sun.

The sight was absolutely astounding, breathtaking.

He shone like a diamond, making the meadow look like a burnt field. Millions of sparkles embedded his skin, making him look like a rare piece of artwork. He walked towards me, sitting down a few feet from me and lying down on his back. I continued to stare, blinded by his beauty. If I thought he looked his most beautiful before, I was wrong. He looked his most flawless, gorgeous right this very moment. His eyes remained closed as he relaxed into the grass and flowers.

"You aren't scared?" he asked me all of a sudden.

"..No. I don't think I am. I am more blind sighted than anything." I answered him, believing that he was a dream.

"Maybe you are just in shock. I wouldn't be surprised if you ran away after we left." He sounded so sad as he said this.

"No, I don't think so. It's just so pretty." I murmured.

All he did was smile and continue to lay there. I took a deep breath of the air around me, and realized that his scent permeated the atmosphere. His scent smelled of honey, lilac, and lavender. I started to lean further into him. He surprisingly allowed it. Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. He carried me throughout the forest for possibly a few hours.

I knelt down beside him and started to stroke his arm up and down. He sighed in what seemed like pleasure, and smiled. I reciprocated the smile on his face. He looked so peaceful that I felt the urge to stop touching him and just look at him. He could probably pass as sleeping.

I looked up and watched the clouds move by slowly, trying to decipher shapes from the formations. I saw a horse, a cat playing with a ball of yarn, and a boat.

I looked back down at Edward to see his eyes open, staring at me.

"What?" I asked him skeptically.

"Nothing, Bella." He said my name like it was sacred. I smiled inwardly.

A few moments later he started again.

"What are you thinking?" he asked. He sounded like a weight has been lifted off of his chest as he sighed in what seemed like relief.

"I was thinking about you, actually." I admitted weakly.

"What exactly about me?" he asked gently.

"I was thinking about the obvious things." That was all I said. I was too scared to admit my feelings for him.

"What are the obvious things?" he seemed to be getting anxious.

I said nothing in return. I continued to stroke his hand like I hadn't heard him at all. I continued to think what I was going to say to him, when he let out a heavy sigh of frustration. I could tell he was about to start talking, but I quickly opened my mouth before he did.

"The obvious things.. is that I am scared." I admitted.

"I should've known," he frowned. "I don't want you to be afraid, Bella."

"I'm not afraid of _you_. I am afraid of what the future may hold." I tried to explain, but my throat kept cutting me off every time I tried to voice my deepest thoughts.

"Whatever do you mean? Afraid of the future?" he probed.

"I mean.. that I am scared that I might like to.._ stay_ with you. Even though I know I can't. I am afraid that I want to be with you, regardless of everything that may happen." I blushed hotly as I admitted my even deeper thoughts.

"That is definitely something to be afraid of. Wanting to be with me. That would not be the best idea." He sounded like he didn't believe the words he was saying.

"There is another thing." I continued on with my confession.

"Another..?" he questioned.

"Yes. Well, I am also afraid because.. I sometimes get the feeling that you will abruptly leave out of nowhere. I just think that you are a dream and I will wake up sooner or later. I don't want that to happen. I mean the leaving part." I looked down at my lap. I noticed I was still stroking his arm up and down, the diamonds shining on my skin, reflecting his.

"I don't think I can leave anymore, Bella," he replied.

"I'm happy." I smiled in my happiness.

"You shouldn't be!" he nearly shouted. That really hurt, so much that I felt nervous in my chest.

"Why?" I asked him, trying to hide the hurt.

"You must never forget that it's only selfishness keeping me here. Never forget that I am more dangerous to you than I am to anyone else. I propose a bigger threat on your life than anyone else on this planet!" he said seriously. I couldn't help but take him seriously.

"I don't understand." I answered him stupidly.

"I am more dangerous to you than I am to anyone else. How should I compare it?" he asked himself, becoming thoughtful again.

I waited for him to think of something. I continued to watch his face as he thought of a way to explain it to me. He had a very interesting face, what with all the emotions flashing across his features. He seemed to finally come up with a cognition.

"Let's put it this way. Say you had a starving man. He has been locked up in a cell for weeks, with nothing to eat but bread and water. He is craving something extra to make him feel satisfied. Suddenly, he is shown this huge feast. The thing he has been craving for. He sees it, but he cannot have it, but he wants it. It smells and looks absolutely delicious compared to what he has been eating. That's what it is like for me, with you." He finished.

I didn't say anything, because I didn't quite understand yet.

"Sorry for the food comparison. Shall we try something more realistic?" he asked himself again.

"Ah, how about a recovering alcoholic? He would be craving alcohol, and then in front of him is the best alcohol available, but he couldn't have it, because he recovering. It's forbidden to him. That's what it is like for me, as well." He tried to explain.

"So, what you are saying is, that my.. blood.. is more tempting to you than anyone else's?" I asked him incredulously.

"Yes." He seemed relieved that I finally understood.

"So, is that why.. on the first day.." I trailed off.

"Yes. It took just about everything I had to _not_ jump up in that small room and kill you, _not_ to follow you home from school, _not_ to take your life's nectar." He looked down. He looked utterly ashamed.

"Why not?" I asked him. Why was he denying what he wanted? It made no sense.

"Pardon?" he asked quickly.

"Why didn't you do those things?" I asked him, like it was obvious.

"You really don't see yourself the way I do, do you?" he challenged.

"What do you mean?" I demanded.

He was silent for a few moments. I waited patiently, thinking that what he had to say must've been important.

"I.." he started.

Seconds passed.

Moments passed.

"I.. could never live with myself if I ever hurt you. I.. have never felt this way about anyone. You are the most important thing to me now. The most important thing to me ever." If he could've blushed, he would've. It would've reflected mine. I was blushing hotly now.

Inside, I was rejoicing. He basically just admitted that he had feelings for me. I never thought that this would ever happen to me. I felt as if a huge balloon had been blown up inside me, for the feelings were to much to hold. They made me smile in joy, but I quickly tried to hide it. I had a feeling he saw it though.

"Well," I started, feeling I should voice my thoughts now, "you should know that I feel those things.. too. I'd rather die than stay away from you." I admitted sheepishly.

He frowned, and groaned. "This is so wrong."

"It doesn't feel wrong." I argued.

"Don't you see, though? I should be staying away from you. I should be making you safe, instead of endangering your life. I should leave." He sounded like he didn't want to. I felt relief at his tone, because I didn't want him to leave.

"I want you to stay." I voiced my thoughts again.

"Don't worry, I'm an abnormally selfish person. So I will stay, as long as I am being selfish." He told me, sounding disgusted with himself.

I looked down and smiled. I was totally and utterly speechless. I looked at his hand in mine and traced the length of each of his fingers. I continued to trace my fingers up to his wrist and started to stroke his forearm.

"You can't comprehend how nice that feels." He cut me off from my abstraction.

"Nice what feels?" I asked stupidly.

"The warmth. The reason I come here during the daytime is to soak up the heat of the sun when it is out." He smiled timidly.

"And you don't do that anymore?" I delved myself into his inner thoughts, trying to get him to tell me.

"Not lately. I have found a new source of warmth. And I must say, it is amazingly pleasant." He beamed at me, showing all of his perfectly white teeth. I smiled back at him. I had a farely good idea who his new source of warmth was..

"Tell me what happened as to how this came to be. Like, how did it start? The first day, obviously, but I want to hear the rest." I told him my desire. My desire to hear his side. Truly understand what has been going on with him.

"Well, the first day was probably the worst. Maybe it was because I was unprepared, but it was painful nonetheless. Like I said, it took everything in me not to kill you." He looked up at me, probably making sure I wasn't getting scared.

"So is that why you were gone for a few days?" I continued.

"Yes, that is why I was gone. I went up to Alaska. I was so ashamed with myself for being so weak, that I left. I couldn't be around the ones that mattered to me most, my family for that matter." He went on, becoming quiet. "I stayed with some family friends, but I couldn't get the picture of you out of my head. So, I came back, ready to face the demon inside me. There is a reason though.." He became silent.

"Which is?" I probed.

"I was curious about you." He admitted.

I was quiet then. I simply had nothing to say.

"Anyways, when I talked to you that first day, I found it that I found you interesting. You captured me, always reacting in a way no other would actually do so. You captured me like you captured those arrogent males," he growled.

"I don't understand why they found me enthralling. If I am not like them.." I went on.

"That's exactly it. You are not like them. They had never met another girl that was like you. It seems you had the same effect on me." He smiled up at me daintily. "You don't see youself clearly."

"Well, it is me. Aren't I supposed to know myself better than anyone else?" I joked lightly.

"Some people can be more aware of you than you yourself." He looked so smug.

"I'll take it that person is you?" I questioned my theory.

"I have been paying a lot of attention to you, I will admit." If he could've blushed, he would've. It was such a cute look on his face. He actually looked like a boy.

We sat there in silence, smiling at each other. We basically just admitted our feelings for each other, indirectly. Our grins made us look like the two most idiotic fools in history. He cut off his eyesight from mine as he looked down.

"Does it hurt for you?" I asked him, my voice cracking slightly.

"Not when I am used to it. Usually it's just the surprise that hurts." He explained to me.

"Does it hurt now?" If he was actually in pain because of me, I thought I might've cried. How melodramatic that would be. The last thing I wanted for him was pain, because if he knew it or not, his pain was mine.

"Not really. Like I said, I am used to it." He gleamed. I exhaled in relief.

I looked down again at his hand in mine. I realized I had stopped stroking, and started up again. He returned the favor and stroked my hand back in a gentle gesture. I had to admit, his cold hand felt nice against my skin.

"Is being near me any hard?" I challenged.

"Well, let's see. May I try something?" He asked for permission as he moved closer to me. Like I would ever say no to him. I nodded weakly at his simple request. He kneeled down in front of me and started to run his fingers through my hair. His touch was very gentle. He occasionally moved his fingers over my neck, and then he started to stroke there. The feel of his flawless fingers felt like heaven on my skin. I thought it was more because it was him, over the fact that his hands were colder than ice.

"Stay still." He requested simply. I froze in place. He moved even closer to me, so that his chest was almost touching mine.

He started to go from my neck to my shoulder in slow torturous movements. He finally made his way down to my arms and wrapped his hands around my biceps with ease. All of a sudden, he pulled me close to him, and wrapped his arms around my shoulders in a very delicate way. I wrapped my arms slowly around him, forgetting about being still.

And that was that.

It seemed like the longest time as we sat there and held each other. He had his face buried in my hair, while my whole head was hidden in his chest. His arms seemed to tighten over time.

And then, much to my displeasure, he pulled away.

"It won't be so hard again." He smiled down at me, keeping a grip on my arms.

"Was that hard for you at all?" I felt I should know if he was okay.

"Not really. What about you?" he asked nonchalantly.

"No, it wasn't bad. For me." He chuckled as I tried to stand up, but ended up wobbled and almost falling over. Had it not been for Edward's arms, I would've broken my other ankle. I totally forgot about my ankle.

He chuckled again, standing along with me.

"It's almost dark! How are we going to get back before it gets dark?" I asked him, hoping he had a solution.

"Afraid of the dark, Bella?" he teased.

"No, I just don't want to get lost." I admitted, blushing.

He picked me up all of a sudden and made his face come really close to mine. "Perhaps, I can show you how _I_ travel." He suggested.

"Travel by bat?" I felt so stupid. He laughed extremely loudly in response.

"Vampires don't turn into bats, Bella. Hollywood's version of a vampire is ludicrous." He looked disgusted and amused. "Would you like to see, anyway?" He sounded abruptly excited.

"Sure." I replied.

He pulled me closer to him, and then he was off.

I have never seen someone run so fast in all of my life. It was as if I was riding an extremely fast roller coaster.

Not even two minutes later, he stopped quickly.

"Well, what do you think?" His voice was higher than normal, excited.

I didn't answer right away. I was trying to collect myself so I could talk to him.

"Bella?" Apparantly not quick enough.

I still didn't answer. I felt as though I were about to throw up. He pulled me around so he could hold me so I was facing him.

"Bella..?" he asked again.

I opened my eyes to look down into his eyes. They were perfectly golden and smoldering. I was lost in them.

Before I knew it, our faces were leaning towards each other. He got so close that I took a quick breath before he took my top lip between his and kissed me.

It was the most incredible thing I had ever felt in my entire life. His arms tightened in a gesture that seemed like he wanted to keep me there. He started to kiss me harder now, more frantically. His lips parted in a way that made me part my lips back, ready for him to..

He broke off, breathing heavily.

"Oh my God," he murmured. Murmured so quietly that I almost didn't hear him.

He pressed his lips to mine again, and kept going until I needed air. He moved his mouth to my throat and kissed along my neck. He didn't stop for a long time. When he did, he moved back to my lips and kissed me again. This time with more confidence. I was absolutely incoherent, for I was too far under..

I hadn't even realized he stopped when he said, "Breathe, Bella."

I took a breath.

He looked absolutely satisfied.

"Shall I take you home?" he asked me, unsure.

I nodded. He carried me to the car and sat me in the seat, buckled me in, and ran over to his side.

However, before he drove off, I felt extremely eerie again. A feeling I haven't felt in a few weeks, or months even. This eeriness was different though. It felt like a warning, somehow.

I quickly forgot about it though, as I looked at Edward again.

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_AN: I don't think I did a very good job on this chapter. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIIIIIEWWWWWWW!!! I love them, they are encouraging. (:_


	12. Vampire

_AN: I realize it's been a few weeks. I apologize for that._

_Disclaimer_: As much as I'd love to own these characters, they are the works of Stephenie Meyer, except Alexander, he's mine.

**Chapter Twelve: Vampire**

Edward pulled into my driveway and turned off the ignition. He jumped out of the car and rushed over to my side and opened the door for me. As soon as he set me on the ground, he kissed my cheek tenderly. I smiled up at him. He smiled back, looking genuinely happy.

"Would it be alright if I came in?" he asked me when I started to walk towards my door.

"Do you want to?" I asked him stupidly. If he didn't want to come in, he wouldn't have asked.

"Yes." He smiled.

I took his hand and led him to my door and he pulled the key out from under the matt. I looked at him curiously.

"I was interested in you." He shrugged it off like it was nothing.

"You spyed on me?" I didn't know why that made me happy.

"I wouldn't say 'spyed.'" He muttered.

I didn't say anything in return and walked into the house and went straight into the kitchen. I thought it would be a good idea to just have leftovers rather than make a whole meal. I took our some leftover chili from a night I made it for Charlie after he begged me. I poured some in a bowl and put it in the microwave to heat.

I turned around and looked at Edward. He was sitting in one of the beat-up chairs in my shoddy kitchen. He looked like a marble statue standing there looking at me.

I pulled the chili out of the microwave and sat across from Edward. He was staring intently at me as I ate.

I giggled out, "What?"

He chuckled a little bit. "Nothing."

"Then why are staring at me?" I asked, confused.

Instead of answering my question, he answered with a question. "Do you wish for me to not look at you?" His head tilted to the side. I found the movement adorable.

"You can if you want." I mumbled.

I continued to eat my food and went to do the dishes. There weren't many so I didn't feel so burdened. While I was doing the dishes, I thought about the letter from last night. Was it possible that the letter had something to do with the eerieness I felt when we were coming back? The creepy thoughts made me shiver.

When I finished the dished I turned around and looked at Edward again. He was still looking at me. He was smiling, though, so it didn't creep me out too badly.

"Your father is coming home. Shall he know that I am here?" he asked me.

"I'm not sure.." I trailed off. Not quickly enough, because he was already gone.

"Edward..?" I asked to the air. I heard a dark, distant laugh.

My dad came in right after that. He walked into the kitchen and looked like he was incredibly exhausted. I guessed work could do that to you sometimes.

"Hey, Bella." My dad mumbled wearily, looking like he was about to fall out of conciousness.

"Hey, Dad. I had leftover chili, so you can have that if you want." I smiled at him.

"You didn't make anything?" he asked me, confused. I hardly ever ate leftovers.

"I am really tired, so I guess I kind of had a lazy day." I told him sheepishly, hoping he would buy my lie.

"Alright, then." He opened the refridgerator and took out the leftover chili. He mimicked me by putting it in the microwave to heat up.

"Dad? I think I am going to go to bed.." I told him, already walking out of the room.

"That's fine with me. After I eat this, I am going right to sleep." He replied.

"Night, dad." I told him and kissed his cheek.

"G'night, Bella." He smiled at me and went to eat his chili.

I stalked up the stairs, and went straight into my room. There, I found Edward making himself at home on my bed. He smiled hugely at me and opened his arms, a tempting invitation. I had a few things to take care of first.

"Um, may I have a few minutes to myself? To be human?" I asked Edward.

"Take your time." He relaxed into my bed and closed his eyes. "I'll be right here when you get back."

I giggled as I walked out of my room. I went into the bathroom, only to have the eerieness settle itself back into my veins.

There on the counter next to the sink. It had my name in big black letters.

**BELLA**

Nervously, but curiously, I went over to the folded piece of paper, and opened it.

_I know._

Those two insignificant words made my body go colder than ice. I stood frozen for a solid five minutes, just staring at the words written in black. Obviously, the person who gave me the note before, had given me this note. The handwriting was the same. The thing, however, was that how they knew what I was supposedly "doing?"

I thought about it, and decided I should tell Edward about both the notes. I wouldn't want to keep it from him, and have it end up being something bad.

I quickly took a shower and brushed my teeth when I got out. I pulled on some shorts and a huge t-shirt, and walked out of the room with the piece if paper.

I walked into my room to see Edward staying exactly where he was, his eyes closed.

"Edward?" I asked somewhat panicked.

"Bella?" he asked immediately after I uttered a sound.

"I have something I have to ask you and tell you.." I trailed off.

"What is it?" He looked so panicked that I wanted to comfort him instead if tell him my problems. I decided to tell him my problems anyway.

"Do you know if anyone has a grudge against me?" I asked.

"Why? Is something wrong, Bella?" His eyes grew wide as he got more anxious.

"Kind of.. I need to show you something." I walked over to the other note, clutching the one from the bathroom in my hand. I picked up the other note and showed them to him.

"This one came last night, and I got this one from the bathroom just now." He took them from me and looked at them, holding them up to his nose. Smelling them, most likely.

"Bella, how come you didn't tell me about this earlier?" he asked, looking stern.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want you to worry.." I looked down, ashamed.

"It's okay, Bella. But, please, tell me about things like this. It could be dangerous. Whether it's a practical joke or serious." He told me softly.

I looked up at him, "Okay."

He smelled the pieces of paper again, and growled.

"What is it?" I asked urgently.

"Vampire.." His voice grew feral and dangerous. I shivered.

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_AN: I know, very short. I will update either later, like in a few hours, or tomorrow. REVIEW. :D_


	13. Night

_AN: I feel I am not sticking to the storyline, because Bella IS a dancer.. BUT! I finally like that the story is now twisting into something exciting for once. (:_

_Disclaimer_: As much as I'd love to own these characters, they are the works of Stephenie Meyer, except Alexander, he's mine.

**Chapter Thirteen: Night**

Edward's face looked as if it was permanently etched into a look of panic, rage, and pain.

"What do you mean? Vampire?" I asked him, my own panic rising.

"The notes. They smell of vampires. Well, one vampire. Unfortunately, it is not a scent I recognize." He said darkly.

I stared at him. I never thought another vampire would be out to get me. I didn't know what I had done wrong. I didn't even know if any other vampires knew about mine and Edward's relationship, if it was even that.

He stared back down at me and looked worried.

"Don't worry, Bella. I would never let anything hurt you. Besides, there are seven of us and one of him.. or her." He smiled at me.

"What do you mean, 'there are seven of you?'" I asked him, growing suspicious.

"I mean, that, if there were to ever be a fight, we would outnumber him. So, he wouldn't have a chance of killing anyone. That is why you are safe." He reassured me.

"Do you think it will come down to fight?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"If it tries to hurt you, absolutely." He seemed determined, but I was somewhat frightened. I didn't want the guy I loved to be in a fight over me.

I nodded at him, not wanting to argue after our perfect day.

"Do you want to go to sleep?" he asked me.

"Not really. I kind of want to learn more about you.." I went on, hoping he would tell me some things I didn't know.

"What would you like to know?" he asked.

"Well," I started off with something basic, "when were you born? Like, how old are you?" I asked him when he picked me up and set me on my bed, watching my ankle. I just remembered that I got to get my cast off tomorrow. I smiled.

He hesitated for a moment before he sat next me in my small bed. "I was born in Chicago, in 1901." He looked down at me, possibly to see if he startled me. I kept my expression smooth.

"1901. I don't remember much of my human life, but I remember my change very well." He went on.

"Was it painful?" I probed for more.

"Yes, but I don't remember the details. My change was in 1918. I was dying of Spanish Influenza, and that is when Carlisle found me." He suddenly looked very sad. I touched his arm to try and comfort him. He smiled at the gesture.

"My mother and father had already died of the disease, so I was all alone. That's partially why he chose me." He looked thoughtful as he spoke, obviously deep in thought of his past.

"Why was it only partial? Was there some other part to it?" I questioned.

"Well, yes. My human mother, Elizabeth, requested of Carlisle to save me. That's what Carlisle told me, and when I'd read his mind. I was unconscious, so I have no recollect of it." He continued with his story.

"I'm sorry about your real parents." I said sadly. Any suffering brought to him made me suffer as well.

"It was a really long time ago, and I don't remember very well." He reassured me.

He stopped talking, so I assumed he was finished with his story.. but, I wasn't ready to stop talking. I wanted to know more about his family he had now.

"What about your other family? The ones you have now?" I asked him.

"Who are you talking about in particular?" There he went again, answering a question with a question.

"Your mother.. the only one I haven't seen." I said.

"Esme? Even though we have no family relations from out human lives, she is still a mother to me. Just a few years after me, did Carlisle change her." He went on. "He fell in love with her, too. They are still like teenagers in love. The passion hasn't faded for them in all of these years."

"Although we have seven members in our family," he carried on, clearly more comfortable with the topic of his family, "only four of us were changed by Carlisle."

"Who weren't?" I asked.

"Alice and Jasper." He said simply.

"Tell me how they came to your guys' family." I was hungry for more answers. He had a very interesting family.

"Alice, or my sister, doesn't remember her human life at all. She's a lot like me. She sees things, the future." He hesitated for a moment before he continued. "She wandered the world alone, looking for Jasper, because she had seen him when she first woke up. A lot of the time, she lives in the future." He laughed as he thought.

"And Jasper?" I asked.

"Jasper.. is very interesting. He came from a different family. Much different than ours. He lived a somewhat miserable life, fighting the wars down in the South. He lived a long portion of his life down in the South. And then he found us." He smiled.

"What about Rosalie and Emmett?" I asked for more.

"Rosalie came to our family about ten years after Esme was turned. We were living in Rochester at the time, and we had found her on the streets, dying. Carlisle changed her, foolishly hoping she would be to me what Esme was to him." He chuckled.

"However, that wasn't the case. She was offended the first time she heard me speak. You see, with Rosalie, it is all about vanity. She thought that if I couldn't want her, that I couldn't want anyone." He smiled down at me. "That, obviously, wasn't the case." He leaned down to kiss my lips lightly. I smiled up at him, happy that I had him.

"She found Emmett a few years later, while he was dying of a bear attack. She didn't think she could do it herself, so she asked Carlisle to change him for her." He said. "He obliged, simply for Rosalie's sake.."

I stared at him, eager for him to continue.

"I think you should go to sleep now, Bella." He said quietly. I looked over at my clock and it read.. 1:13 AM! I didn't know we had been up that late just talking.

"But, I am not ready! I have more questions." I told him.

"We always have tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.." He trailed off.

"Okay, then. Goodnight, Edward." I told him while kissing his cheek.

"Goodnight, Bella." He placed a kiss on my lips and then nuzzled his face into my neck.

Before I fell asleep, I thought about the notes again. Even if Edward could protect me, I was scared. No one had ever secretly scared me before.

Right before I drifted off, I could've sworn I heard "I love you" coming from beside me.

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_AN: Grrrrr, another short one. I can't wait until I get to better parts of this story. Reviews are love. :D_


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